Attacking Italy out to enjoy themselves

QINHUANGDAO, China (Reuters) - The words Italy, football and fun rarely form part of the same sentence but the Olympic tournament is proving a happy exception.

After sweeping into the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over South Korea, their second by that scoreline, the Italians revealed that their mission was to attack and enjoy themselves.

"We've built the team to be an attacking team, not a defensive one, and the players are doing a fantastic job," said assistant coach Gianfranco Zola, himself one of the most entertaining players Italy has produced.

"(Playing well) is one of our targets," the former Napoli, Parma and Chelsea player told Reuters. "We want to go onto the pitch and enjoy the game, the way we did today and the result is going to be a consequence."

Pierluigi Casiraghi's team attacked from the outset of Sunday's game and effectively settled the match in little more than half an hour with goals from Giuseppe Rossi and Tommaso Rocchi.

Instead of shutting up shop in the traditional style, they continued to press forward, even gifting their opponents a couple of clear-cut chances in the second half.

Forward Sebastian Giovinco, at 1.64 meters (5 ft 4.5 in) one of the smallest players in the competition, and the quicksilver Rossi are the players who stand out.

"I think Rossi can become one of the best Italian players, he's already one of them," said Zola, expressing similar hopes for Giovinco. "I hope he will become better than myself ... he's a fantastic players."

Zola would not be drawn, however, on comparisons between the current side and Italy's dour, defensive past.

"I don't know, I think it would be unfair, he said. "We won four World Cups so it would be unfair towards the other teams but we love to express our good football and so far the players are doing this.

(Editing by Alex Richardson)