Casiraghi cautions against Italy complacency

Italy coach Pierluigi Casiraghi warned his players against complacency after goals in each half from Mattia Destro and Stefano Okaka earned a 2-0 lead to take into Tuesday's second leg against Belarus.

"The guys were very good tonight because this was a very difficult game," Casiraghi said after UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off victory in Rieti. "The problem is that there are still 90 minutes left and the tie is certainly not over. Belarus are a very good side. We cannot afford to lower our guard in the return leg."

The Italy side which lines up in Borisov on Tuesday will have a completely new right flank after winger Ezequiel Schelotto and full-back Lorenzo De Silvestri both picked up yellow cards to earn suspensions. Their absence presents a "problem for us" said Casiraghi, before turning attention to a more general malaise. "In the second half we struggled to cope with their pressing. However we showed great character: Our fighting spirit made up for the tired legs."

Only just, however, as Pavel Nekhaychik came within a whisker of reducing the deficit in added time as Belarus cranked up the pressure. "We really wanted to score an away goal but, though we had good chances, we weren't able to muster one," said coach Georgi Kondratiev. "On Tuesday we will look to score a quick goal to try and turn the tie in our favour. We will certainly have to play better at the back, though: If we had made fewer defensive mistakes we would be speaking about another result now."

For Kondratiev's captain, Cagliari Calcio midfielder Mikhail Sivakov, Belarus's shortcomings were at the other end. "The only difference between the sides today was the two goals," he said. "We needed to be more clinical in our opponent's penalty area – we will have to be in the return, in front of our own fans. Italy have a lot of good players and they will try to contain us. They will also put out a strong team even if Schelotto and De Silvestri, the captain, cannot play."