Intro:

Italy trained in Natal on Sunday (22nd June), as they continue preparations for their Group D decider against Uruguay.

Script:

SOUNDBITE (Italian) Gianluigi Buffon, Italy goalkeeper:

(asked is he thinks the defeat against Costa Rica was due to the hot weather)

"But no (pause) no, I don't think that's the case. As we said after the game ended, the weather conditions were difficult, almost prohibitive (impossible), but the same way they were difficult for us, they also affected the other teams regardless of a team being used to playing in this kind of climate or not."

"They are a team to fear (Uruguay) and they should be (because they made it to the World Cup).

Surely the effect of the last game will influence our next performance. We come from a crushing defeat and they come from a victory that probably gave them conviction and lifted their spirits."

(asked on whether they feel a lot of pressure to win ahead of the match against Uruguay)

"I will be honest, I have been with Italy's national team in 10 championships - international competitions and only last year, in the Confederations Cup, we had qualified already by the third match. In five championships we had enough with a draw or a victory, on another three occasions it was mandatory that we won to qualify, therefore the current situation is not that different."