Italy coach Marcello Lippi was content with his side's performance in the 2-0 win over Ghana in their World Cup finals opener.

Goals from Andrea Pirlo and Vincenzo Iaquinta gave the Azzurri a comfortable win in Hanover and gave Lippi cause for optimism.

He told RAI: "I'm delighted with the result. Our opponents showed themselves to be as strong as we thought they would be.

"Under certain aspects they were better than us, but I think overall we deserved to win.

"From a psychological point of view the first match is always a difficult match to win and I thought the lads did really well to close it out."

Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic admitted that his side had been well beaten, despite a committed display.

He added: "You've seen the Italians. They were very good.

"All the stories on match-fixing in Italy at the moment have not affected them. They deserved to win."