15 November 2006: Italy 1-1 Turkey (Bergamo)
The curtain came down on a glorious year for the Italian national team with an anti-climactic draw against Turkey in Bergamo.
Antonio Di Natale gave the hosts a 38th-minute lead after a blunder from substitute goalkeeper Volkan Demirel left the striker with a straightforward finish. Demirel had come on in the ninth minute as a substitute for Rustu Recber, who sustained a knee injury. But the Azzurri returned the favour three minutes later, with Marco Materazzi's own goal allowing the Turks to restore parity. The result though was secondary for the 22,000 crowd at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Stadium who had turned out to pay tribute to former Italy captain Giacinto Facchetti, who died in the summer.
The Azzurri went into the game looking to end on a high a glorious year which had seen them lift the World Cup in Germany. And the hosts looked dangerous from the outset, with Alberto Gilardino's close-range volley from Cristian Brocchi's assist forcing Rustu to palm over the crossbar for a corner. Shortly after, Volkan was forced to dive to his left following a deflected shot from Di Natale. Italy continued to push forward but created little up front.
On 35 minutes, Hamit Altintop's right-footed effort towards the near post was saved by goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Volkan's error allowed Di Natale to open the scoring but it didn't hinder Fatih Terim's men who went in search of the equaliser. They were rewarded when Materazzi deflected Arda Turan's cross towards his own net in an attempt to stop the ball from reaching Hakan Sukur.
Italy coach Roberto Donadoni made five substitutions after the re-start but it failed to inspire the Azzurri. It was Turkey that showed the greater aggression and they nearly took the lead in the 53rd minute with Mehmet Topuz's close-range effort going wide of substitute Marco Amelia's near post.
The Azzurri struggled under pressure and would have gone behind on the hour mark had Materazzi not cleared away Altintop's strike on target that beat Amelia but found the Inter defender at the far post. At the other end, Di Natale almost punished Volkan again following his poor clearance, but this time, the keeper saved, in what was the last chance of the game.
Italy: Buffon (Amelia 46); Oddo (Zaccardo 46), Cannavaro (Barzagli 46), Materazzi, Zambrotta (Pasqual 71); De Rossi (Palombo 71); Camoranesi (Rocchi 59), Brocchi (Barone 59), Mauri (Aquilani 46), Di Natale; Gilardino (Bonazzoli 46).
Turkey: Rustu (Volkan 9); Hamit Altintop (Nuri Sahin 75), Gokhan, Cetin (Cimsir 85), Uzulmez; Sabri (Toraman 85), Emre (Gokdeniz 75), Aurelio (Tekke 85), Turan, Tuncay (Tumer 63); Sukur (Halil Altintop 62).
Ref: Busacca (Switzerland).
Euro 2008 Qualification - Group A
Finland have gone top of Group A after a 1-0 success over Armenia in Helsinki. The Nordic nation - currently managed by Englishman Roy Hodgson - leapfrogged previous leaders Serbia after Mike Nurmela's early strike at the Finnair Stadium. The HJK Helsinki midfielder headed home Jonatan Johansson's low cross from close range after 10 minutes of Wednesday's contest for the winner. The Finns were then indebted to goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen for making sure of the three points after he made two important second-half saves to maintain a clean sheet. The Armenians - managed by former Chelsea boss Ian Porterfield - remain winless after four games played.
Poland moved to within a point of leaders Finland after an impressive 1-0 victory over Belgium in Brussels. Radoslaw Matusiak's powerful low strike on 19 minutes proved to be the difference between the two sides at the King Baudouin Stadium. The result leaves Rene Vandereycken's Belgians four points adrift of top spot in the table.
Portugal eased past lowly Kazakhstan with a 3-0 home success. Simao Sabrosa gave Luiz Felipe Scolari's side the lead after eight minutes in Coimbra with a powerful right-foot strike after some good play from Deco. Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo doubled Portugal's advantage on the half-hour mark with fine low strike from near the edge of the Kazakhstan box. Simao sealed all three points with four minutes remaining after converting Ricardo Quaresma's corner from close range.
Group D
Germany lost their 100 percent record in Euro 2008 qualifying Group D after being held to a 1-1 draw by Cyprus. The draw was good enough however to put Germany top of the table on goal difference above Czech Republic. Germany got to a flying start with Michael Ballack firing them in front on 16 minutes with a free kick from the edge of the area. Cyprus stunned Germany two minutes before half time when Yiannakis Okkas equalised for the hosts. Ballack went close to restoring Germany's lead on 54 minutes when he headed Bastian Schweinsteiger's cross just wide. Miroslav Klose wasted a couple of good openings as Germany pushed forward in search of a winner. Neither side could find a winner as Cyprus picked up a surprise point to end Germany's winning start to qualifying.
Steve Staunton got his first competitive victory as the Republic of Ireland secured their anticipated win over San Marino at Lansdowne Road. A deflected Andy Reid free-kick, Kevin Doyle's first goal for the Republic and a Robbie Keane strike gave the Irish a 3-0 interval advantage. Playing at Lansdowne for the last time before redevelopment, Keane added two in the second half for his hat-trick. He netted a penalty on 57 minutes and then a close-range strike near the end. It was far from a brilliant performance from Staunton's men against such mediocre opposition, but it gave the fans something to sing about in the rain as they said farewell to their familiar, though dated, old ground.
Group E
Eduardo da Silva's hat-trick guided Croatia to a thrilling 4-3 win over Israel to push them top of the qualifying Group as England dropped to third. Roberto Colautti's tap-in gave Israel an early lead, but Croatia led 2-1 at half-time thanks to Darjo Srna's penalty and Da Silva's slick finish. The Brazilian-born Da Silva extended Croatia's lead in the 54th minute, before Yossi Benayoun made it 3-2. Da Silva then completed his hat-trick, before Coalutti scored again late on. Croatia top Group E with 10 points from four matches.
Russia continued their march towards qualification with a 2-0 win over Macedonia. The Macedonians managed to frustrate England at Old Trafford last month but were no match for Guus Hiddink's side in Skopje. Vladimir Bystrov scored his first international goal after just 18 minutes to fire Russia ahead, before Andrei Arshavin doubled their advantage with a fine solo goal on the half-hour mark. Macedonia could not get back into the game in the second half and Russia secured victory to move onto eight points. Israel, Macedonia and England are all level on seven points in third place.
Selected Friendly Results
Australia 1-1 Ghana (Played on Tuesday)
Wales 4-0 Liechtenstein (Played on Tuesday)
Malta 1-4 Lithuania
Georgia 2-0 Uruguay
Estonia 2-1 Belarus
Slovakia 3-1 Bulgaria
Ivory Coast 1-0 Sweden
Hungary 1-0 Canada
Luxembourg 0-0 Togo
Netherlands 1-1 England
Czech Republic 1-1 Denmark
Serbia 1-1 Norway
Austria 4-1 Trinidad and Tobago
Switzerland 1-2 Brazil
Egypt 1-0 South Africa
Italy 1-1 Turkey
France 1-0 Greece
Spain 0-1 Romania
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