A victory in Recife would have put the Azzurri in a strong position in Group D but instead it was Los Ticos who advanced into the round of 16 thanks to Bryan Ruiz’s first-half header.
Italy will join them if they can avoid defeat to Uruguay on Tuesday with Prandelli trying to remain optimistic despite a defeat few saw coming.
"We deserved this defeat," he lamented to RAI Sport after the game. "But there’s no need to panic, we just have to recover and get ready for Tuesday’s match.
"It was a defeat in which Costa Rica were much more aggressive and played with passion.
"I don’t know if we were superficial but it would have been a huge mistake if we were. The players ran hard and in these conditions gave all they had.
"We had a plan, but Costa Rica were smart to close down every gap for the passes to go through.
"We already knew this was a particularly tough group and that we’d have to gamble our qualification in the last game with Uruguay."
Italy's best fell to Mario Balotelli but he could only put a weak effort wide of target around the half-hour mark.
"Perhaps if Balotelli had scored the match would have different," Prandelli added. "But there’s nothing else for us to complain about.
"We will do our best against Uruguay."
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