World champions Italy are at their lowest ebb since Marcello Lippi took over for his second stint as manager, the coach said after a 3-0 defeat to Brazil knocked them out of the Confederations Cup.
''It's perhaps the worst moment...since I've been coach,'' the World Cup winner said.
''We didn't make a good impression,'' he admitted after a tournament in which Italy also recorded its first ever loss to Egypt.
''We've been knocked around and we're on our way home,'' said the coach, who led Italy to victory in Germany in 2006.
Lippi has been criticised for sticking by his old guard, who performed poorly in the South Africa showcase a year before the World Cup here.
After Sunday night's match he again indicated that it was hard to bring in younger players.
But on Monday he said:
''The reconstruction of the team is in course. I never said it was complete, or that these players are the ones we'll take to the World Cup''.
