Naples, Oct 16 (IANS): Defender Davide Astori has conceded that Italy were error-prone as they were held 2-2 at home by Armenia in their final World Cup qualifiers match.

Astori seconded Italy head coach Cesare Prandelli's post-match remarks Tuesday that they played an embarrassing first 20 minutes, reports Xinhua.

"We too know that we made a lot of mistakes in the opening 20 minutes and Armenia did well to take advantage, as they have quality in attack," he said.

"They started very aggressively and we misplaced too many passes and you cannot make mistakes like that in a World Cup qualifier, but we did well to react," he said.

"When you misplace several passes in the opening minutes, it gives the opposition more confidence. We knew Armenia had good players in attack and we did well to deny them counter-attacks, but conceded with a misplaced pass and a set play," he said.

The Cagliari defender hopes Italy could sort out their problems in the friendlies.

"We will try to find the reasons why we suffered in friendlies and games where the result doesn't count for that much," he said.

Astori was not happy with the press who put Mario Balotelli in further controversy this week.

"People try to build on this 'Balotelli bad boy' reputation, but even if he doesn't do anything the papers still find something to write about. He's 23, so it's normal he'd get a bit fed up," he said.