Gianluigi Buffon is willing to bet on world champions Italy’s chances of winning the European Championships next summer while Gennaro Gattuso is frustrated that Italy helped France qualify in place of Scotland.

“Now there are quite a few months to go before the finals. The minimum objective is to get past the first round, but then we’ll see what happens,” said Buffon.

“I am ready to bet on this squad, as it has everything needed to continue surprising everyone on the main stage.”

The Azzurri booked their passage to Austria and Switzerland thanks to Saturday’s 2-1 victory in Scotland.

The Scots have been highly critical of referee Mejuto Gonzalez and his assistants, but Buffon insists if anyone has cause for complaint it’s Italy.

“We deserved this success, obviously. One would be foolish to suggest otherwise. In the second half we were under pressure and that was inevitable, seeing as Scotland had to win at all costs.

“In my view we deserved to seal up the win in the first half, as Antonio Di Natale’s goal should not have been disallowed and the Scottish equaliser was offside. Never mind, we are accustomed to suffering and difficult situations don’t frighten us.”

The players have all made a point of dedicating this win to Coach Roberto Donadoni, who was constantly on the verge of dismissal since the moment he took over.

“We are happy for him and he deserved this great achievement. They tell me he got very emotional in the locker room, but I did not see that,” continued Buffon.

“It was not easy to replace Marcello Lippi, but he took full responsibility. He convinced us because he is a great Coach and a consistent man who knows how to make the right decisions at the right time.

“He certainly worked well both for the present and the future. Continuing this way we can have some more wonderful moments in Austria and Switzerland, considering how much we have improved over the past year.”

Gennaro Gattuso has just one cloud over his evening – helping France to reach Euro 2008 and eliminate his beloved Scotland.

“I am proud of the qualification we have achieved with this squad,” said the midfielder after Italy’s 2-1 win in Glasgow.

“But I am really annoyed because I know we also helped France to go through.”

Gattuso spent a year at Glasgow Rangers at the start of his career and married a local girl, but even stronger than his love for the country is his dislike of Les Bleus.

“Raymond Domenech is always being such a pain and he really did not deserve to reach the finals.

“Now I hope to meet France at Euro 2008 so we can teach them all a lesson.”

Vincenzo Iaquinta insists Italy thoroughly deserve to be at Euro 2008 and can add this title to their World Cup medals.

“The important thing was getting through the qualifying round. After all the victories we notched up, it would have been unjust to be left at home,” said the Juventus striker.

Channel4.com