2 September 2006: Italy 1-1 Lithuania (Naples)
Italy were forced to battle back from a goal down to salvage a draw against lowly Lithuania in their first competitive game since being crowned world champions in front of 60,000 fans in Naples. AC Milan's Filippo Inzaghi nullified Vitalijus Kavaliauskas' shock 20th-minute opener, but the Azzurri's embarrassment will last longer than the 10 minutes which separated those two strikes.
The visiting threat became apparent as early as the third minute when Robertas Poskus blasted wide from 20 yards and then again four minutes later when Kavaliauskas forced Gianluigi Buffon into making a save.
Antonio Cassano, back in the side after missing out on the World Cup, and Gennaro Gatusso both caused trouble at the other end as Italy established their presence, but with 20 minutes played Lithuania turned the game on its head. Brescia's Marius Stankevicius swung the ball into the box from the right and Kavaliauskas, 18 yards out, directed his left-footed drive past Buffon for 0-1.
Italy blasted shots at Zydrunas Karcemarskas' goal, but Lithuania held tight and pursued one of the biggest upsets in the history of the competition. For 10 minutes it looked possible, and Italian frustration began to show.
Simone Perrotta was shown the yellow card after 27 minutes for a foul on Mantas Savenas, but the Azzurri ensured the panic was short-lived. Cassano, gathering the ball on the left with half an hour played, fed his pass into Inzaghi's path and the AC Milan striker made no mistake from 12 yards out.
Lithuania bounced back after the break, Poskus bringing another save out of Buffon, but as the half wore on Italy reasserted their presence. Andrea Pirlo had a shot blocked and Cassano failed to convert a couple of chances, but for all their possession they could not find the net and the Lithuanians held on to claim a stunning point.
Italy: Buffon; Oddo, Cannavaro, Barzagli, Grosso; Pirlo, De Rossi (Marchionni 61), Gattuso; Perrotta (Gilardino 71), Inzaghi (Di Michele 86), Cassano.
Lithuania: Karcemarskas; Stankevicius, Dziaukstas, Preiksaitis, Skerla; Zvirgzdauskas, Savenas (Kalonas 65), Danilevicius, Cesnauskis, Poskus (Labukas 79); Mikoliunas (Tamosauskas 82).
Ref: Hansson (Swe).
Other Group B Matches
World Cup finalists France started their campaign with a 3-0 defeat of Georgia in Tbilisi. Florent Malouda opened the scoring and Louis Saha added a second, while Malkhaz Asatiani put the ball into his own net to complete a miserable afternoon for the home team.
Scotland opened their campaign with an impressive 6-0 win over the Faroe Islands at Celtic Park, with Darren Fletcher, James McFadden, Kris Boyd (two), Kenny Miller and Garry O'Connor scoring.
Group A
Poland's campaign got off to a disastrous start with a 3-1 defeat at home to Finland, for whom Jari Litmanen bagged a brace. Mika Vaeyrynen got the other, while Lukasz Gargula got a consolation for the hosts, who also had Arkadiusz Glowacki sent off.
Serbia crept to a 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan, with Nikola Zigic grabbing the winner 18 minutes from time.
Group C
Norway got off to a fine start with a 4-1 thumping away in Hungary, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer bagging a brace and Fredrik Stromstad and Morten Gamst Pedersen grabbing the others, while Zoltan Gera got the hosts' consolation.
Bosnia-Herzegovina hammered Malta 5-2 in Valletta, Sergei Barbarez opening the scoring and Mirko Hrgovic and Zlatan Muslimovic both scoring twice. Jamie Pace and Michael Mifsud scored as the home side made a disappointing start to their campaign.
In the group's other game, Euro 2004 champions Greece won 1-0 away in Moldova despite Angelos Basinas missing a penalty, with Nikos Liberopoulos sparing their blushes.
Group D
Germany beat Republic of Ireland 1-0 in Stuttgart, with Lukas Podolski notching the winner thanks to a deflected free-kick.
Czech Republic left it late to beat Wales 2-1, substitute David Lafata scoring twice either side of a Martin Jiranek own goal to give Karel Bruckner's side a scarcely-deserved three points.
Slovakia thumped Cyprus 6-1 in Bratislava, with Marek Mintal and Filip Sebo both hitting doubles for the home team.
Martin Skrtel and Miroslav Karhan also got on the scoresheet, while Yiasemakis Yiasemi struck a Cypriot consolation.
Group E
England defeated minnows Andorra 5-0 at Old Trafford, with Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe both scoring twice in Steve McClaren's first competitive match. Steve Gerrard scored the other.
In the group's other game, Israel scored an early goal to see off the threat of Estonia 1-0 in Tallinn, with Roberto Colautti getting the all-important goal.
Group F
Spain thumped Liechtenstein 4-0 to get off to a fine start, with David Villa scoring twice and Fernando Torres and Luis Garcia also getting on the scoresheet.
Northern Ireland began their campaign disastrously with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Iceland at Windsor Park. Gunnar Heidar Thorvaldsson, Hermann Hreidarsson and Eidur Gudjohnsen scored for the visiting team.
Sweden collected three points away at Latvia, with Kim Kallstrom scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory seven minutes before half-time.
Group G
Marco van Basten's Holland were so nearly embarrassed by Luxembourg but managed to scrape home 1-0, with a Joris Mathijsen strike.
Belarus were held 2-2 by Albania, with Timofei Kalachyov and Maxim Romashchenko bagging for the Belarussians and Ervin Skela and Besnik Hasi hitting back for the visitors.
Martin Petrov scored twice in the last eight minutes to earn Bulgaria a 2-2 draw away in Romania, with Laurentiu Rosu and Ciprian Marica notching for the hosts, who also had Gabriel Tamas dismissed late on.
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