Donadoni was on a hiding to nothing

By Mark Meadows

VIENNA (Reuters) - Roberto Donadoni had an impossible task in trying to lead world champions Italy to Euro 2008 success.

Sunday's quarter-final exit to Spain on penalties and his sacking as coach were almost predictable given the difficulties and doubters he failed to overcome in his two years in charge.

Marcello Lippi stepped down as coach after the 2006 World Cup triumph because he knew how hard it would be to repeat the achievement at the Euros.

He also knew Italy had been slightly fortunate to win in Germany and would not have the same luck again with a decent rather than great side.

Donadoni was fully aware of this too but following Lippi was tougher than he imagined, for reasons the former Italy midfielder could not have foreseen.

Firstly, the shadow of Lippi never went away because the former Juventus coach surprisingly never got back into club management. Speculation that one day he would return to the Azzurri hot seat put Donadoni under constant pressure.

Italy's match-fixing scandal, which came to a head just after their 2006 triumph, also made life tough.

Players were distracted, his Juventus contingent had to play a season in Serie B and Italian soccer dropped in quality.