Football World Cup 2002: Trap's praise for Italy spirit.

ITALY coach Giovanni Trapattoni believes his players have the spirit that could take them far in the World Cup.

Trapattoni said his players showed ``maturity'' and a ``never-say-die'' attitude in yesterday's 1-1 draw with Mexico in Oita, adding that they ``deserved to go through'' to the second round as Group G runners-up.

Croatia's 1-0 defeat by Ecuador meant Italy would have qualified even without Alessandro Del Piero's late equaliser.

Trapattoni said: ``We deserved a draw and to go through. Between the first and the third match - and I want to add that the second match was not that bad - I think that the team deserved to go through.

``Overall this is a team that makes few mistakes, despite the heavy criticism coming from Italy.

``I have to praise my players because after having conceded a goal, created some good chances and had another goal disallowed, they did not lose their heads but kept believing.

``When we reached the dressing room at half-time they believed they could make it. This is the sign of a mature team.''

The 63-year-old added: ``I don't say this often, but the first thing I thought was `God is fair, he exists!' ``The boys have given everything they could and I would like to congratulate them all.''

Italy narrowly avoided joining France and Argentina as surprise first-round casualties, taking second place in the group with four points after beating Ecuador and losing to Croatia prior to the draw with Mexico.