GENOA, Italy, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Italy came close but ultimately fell to another Nations Championship loss against Argentina on Saturday, with head coach Gonzalo Quesada left lamenting the errors and missed opportunities which cost his side.
The final seconds of the match summed up Italy's afternoon in Genoa, putting themselves in a position to beat Argentina but letting the chance slip away in a 19-14 defeat.
With the clock in the red, Italy were awarded a penalty. Paolo Garbisi went for touch in the corner, but the flyhalf overhit his kick and the Italians fell to a sixth consecutive defeat.
Quesada's lineout coach, former Italy great Sergio Parisse, shook his head ruefully in the stands, and the two Argentine-born men looked increasingly frustrated throughout the match.
"Knowing that, after all the work we put in together during the week, we could have beaten Argentina with 30 seconds left, and that it was in our hands, hurts," Quesada told reporters.
"We had the tools and the opportunity to win, but we let it slip away. We are still missing something, we need to be more solid."
Italy failed to capitalise time and again on Argentine ill-discipline, with the Pumas having three players yellow carded. Captain Giacomo Nicotera believes their shortcomings extended beyond an inability to exploit numerical advantage.
"It was a very messy game, with two teams going at each other with great intensity," Nicotera said.
"My feeling is that even when the numbers were level, there were moments when we could have managed possession better, stayed organised and maintained control of the game, putting them under pressure.
"That's something we'll have to review and analyse."
This defeat will be one that haunts Quesada, and a loss he will certainly analyse before taking on Fiji next weekend.
"I like the fact that the expectations around this team are that it should win," Quesada said.
"I get angry when we give things away and those mistakes are entirely down to ourselves.
"From where I sat, the feeling was that we could have controlled the game better and put them under pressure. It's one of those matches that I need to watch again before getting back to work."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)
