Azzurri exit undefeated

8216;8216;In our national team there is not a single real champion,8217;8217; wrote another commentator in La Stampa newspaper.

Italy beat Bulgaria 2-1 in their final group C match on Tuesday but failed to avoid an early exit as the other two teams in the group, Denmark and Sweden, edged them out.

Two years ago furious Italians blamed the 8216;8216;bias8217;8217; of Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno for their humiliating World Cup exit against South Korea. On Wednesday, however, most directed their anger at their own team8217;s uninspiring performance, accepting with bitter resignation what some in the Italian camp have said was a fix by the Scandinavians.

8216;8216;A fraud foretold? Difficult to find the proof,8217;8217; said Corriere della Sera. Veteran journalist Beppe Severgnini, however, writing in the same paper, was outraged.

8216;8216;Who knows what the Danish is for 8216;embarrassed8217;, or even the Swedish,8217;8217; was the opening shot of his column, describing how sports journalists from both countries had melted away from the press box after the game on Tuesday night.