Italy qualified for the Euro 2008 quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over ten-man France, courtesy of an Andrea Pirlo penalty and a deflected Daniele De Rossi free-kick...
Roberto Donadoni's men were the superior side and deserving of their victory, but Raymond Domenech and France were not afforded any luck by the footballing Gods this evening in Zurich.
Star man Franck Ribery went off injured just 10 minutes into the game, and a fairly soft but technically spot-on penalty decision was awarded to the Azzurri minutes later, with Eric Abidal dismissed for denying Luca Toni a goal-scoring opportunity and Andrea Pirlo hammering home the spot-kick.
Italy could and should have added more but France, to their credit, came back fighting in the second half as Italy invited them on, but the game was killed around the hour mark when Daniele De Rossi's driven free-kick taking a cruel deflection off Thierry Henry beyond Gregory Coupet.
The result sent Italy through, with Romania losing 2-0 against the Netherlands, and France finishing bottom of the group.
First Half
With France having more of the possession in the first few minutes, it was Italy that had the first chance on goal, when Giorgio Chiellini's high ball forward was not dealt with by Eric Abidal and Luca Toni was allowed in behind. The Bayern Munich hit-man took his chance perhaps earlier than he needed to and pulled it wide of the near post.
It was a huge chance, but France's lifeline was not to last long, with Franck Ribery picking up an achilles injury after an innocuous coming together with Gianluca Zambrotta, having to be replaced by Samir Nasri less than 10 minutes into the game.
Italy came close moments later, when Andrea Pirlo swung a corner into the box and Christian Panucci's header was cleared off the line by Claude Makelele.
Karim Benzema registered France's first shot after quarter of an hour when he cut in from the right hand side and drilled a low shot on his left foot wide of Gianluigi Buffon's near post.
Controversy struck midway through the half when a Pirlo ball over the top was taken down well by Luca Toni, only for Eric Abidal to clip him from behind and not only concede a penalty, but as the last man denying a clear goal scoring opportunity, he was also sent off by the letter of the law. Andrea Pirlo stepped up and rocketed the spot-kick into the top-left hand corner to give Italy the lead.
Samir Nasri, who had been on for 15 minutes in place of the injured Ribery, was the unfortunate man to be withdrawn for a defensive substitute, Jean-Alain Boumsong.
The Azzurri proceeded to pile on the pressure, with Daniele De Rossi rifling a shot just over the bar from the edge of the area, before Luca Toni then spurned three chances in as many minutes.
Antonio Cassano slung a ball into the box from the right hand side, and despite it being behind Toni, the towering forward attempted to flick it with the back of his heel into the far corner, but it went just wide. Pirlo chipped a delightful ball over the top just a minute later, but Toni miscued a first time, left-footed volley that missed the target. His third chance came on the half hour mark, when Simone Perrotta's deft touch allowed him to turn and shoot from the edge of the area, but his effort went wide.
France had a chance to snatch an equaliser against the run of play when Jeremy Toulalan played in Thierry Henry between Italy's two defenders, and from a fairly tight angle, the Barcelona forward's shot went wide of the far post. Les Bleus began consolidating but could not fashion attempts on goal, and it was Italy who had the next close shave from a free-kick, just before half time.
Daniele De Rossi's roving run towards the penalty area drew a foul from Toulalan to the right of goal. With Pirlo and Fabio Grosso over the ball, it was Grosso, the man who scored the winning penalty in the World Cup final, who took the free-kick, attempting to place it into the far corner, and Gregory Coupet did extremely well to tip it onto the post.
With the French then looking to break, Perrotta was down in the box having injured himself attempting to pounce on the rebound, Pirlo fouled Benzema and received a yellow card, which will rule him out of the quarterfinal clash against Spain.
Second Half
A sedate start to the second half saw France go close five minutes in, when Jeremy Toulalan's persistence down the right hand side saw him squeeze out a cross, with the clearance being spooned as far as Benzema, who struck a sweet volley just off target.
France proved the more imaginative in the early stages as Italy seemed content to hit on the break, with Roberto Donadoni resorting to withdrawing goal scorer and creative lynchpin Andrea Pirlo for Massimo Ambrosini to add strength to the midfield. It did not look like aiding the Azzurri, as they failed to defend with any great composure, and surrendered possession far too often.
Just after the hour mark, Italy grabbed their second, though not without a hint of fortune. A free-kick over 30 yards from goal was drilled by Daniele De Rossi and took a deflection off Thierry Henry, looping past a helpless Coupet into the back of the net and putting the game beyond les Bleus' reach.
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The game lost nearly all its life thereafter and became a cagey midfield battle, with Italy fashioning the next chance on 72 minutes when a cross into the box towards Luca Toni saw his header deflected out by William Gallas.
There was time yet for Buffon to make a wonder-save moments later, when Karim Benzema attempted to bend an effort into the top corner, only for the Juventus shot-stopper to tip it wide for a corner.
Italy kept the ball well from thereon and a few bookings - some needless, others harsh - were given to either side amidst a scrappy end to the encounter.
Toni had yet another chance to grab his goal deep into injury time, with Cassano playing him through, but he rocketed his shot just wide of goal.
Sulmaan Ahmad
Sauce: Goal.com
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