28 March 2007: Italy 2-0 Scotland (Bari)
World champions Italy moved within two points of the Group B summit as Luca Toni's two goals earned them a deserved 2-0 win over Scotland in Bari.
After taking just one point from their first two Euro 2008 qualifiers, Roberto Donadoni's team have got back on track with three successive victories – this latest one against a Scotland side who started the day top of the section and ended it still level on 12 points with Ukraine and France.
Italy had won all five previous home meetings with Scotland, and it took them only 12 minutes to make the breakthrough as Massimo Oddo sent a free-kick into the box and Toni got in front of Lee McCulloch and headed into the left-hand corner of the net. It was not as though Scotland had not been warned, Toni having sent a header sailing wide in the fifth minute.
Though Scotland began poorly, they recovered well after falling behind albeit without creating any clear-cut chances. Lee McCulloch fired a half-volley straight at Buffon and on the stroke of half-time, lone striker Kenny Miller narrowly failed to make a clean connection with a far-post header from Gary Naysmith's cross.
If Scotland went into the interval with cause for optimism, they were up against it once the action resumed. In the 49th minute Mauro Camoranesi sent Antonio Di Natale clean through down the inside-left channel but Craig Gordon made a fine one-handed save. Two minutes later Di Natale raced through again and the impressive Gordon denied him once more, this time sticking out his left foot to turn the ball away.
A blue wave kept rolling towards the Scotland goal, Toni nodding past the far post then driving a shot straight at Gordon. Finally, on 70 minutes, the Fiorentina forward struck again, getting on the end of Camoranesi's right-wing cross with a header down and into the back of the net for his 12th international goal.
Toni's double means the Azzurri can look ahead to their June visits to the Faroe Islands and Lithuania with renewed optimism, while the Faroes is also the next stop for Scotland, on 6 June.
Italy: Buffon; Oddo, Materazzi, Cannavaro, Zambrotta; Gattuso, De Rossi; Camoranesi, Perrotta (Pirlo 77), Di Natale (Del Piero 66); Toni (Quagliarella 87).
Scotland: Gordon, Alexander, McManus, Weir, Naysmith, Teale (Maloney 66), Brown (Beattie 86), Ferguson, Hartley, McCulloch (Boyd 81), Miller.
Referee: De Bleeckere (Bel).
Reaction:
Roberto Donadoni refused to class the win over Scotland as a response to his many critics in the Italian media. "It was a good performance and we got the result we were after. We cannot really ask for more than that," said the coach.
He had been under intense pressure after sliding to fourth place in Group B and it was believed anything less than a win tonight would see him sacked. So Luca Toni’s brace in Bari could be a turning point in Donadoni’s tenure.
"I think back to the games against Georgia and Lithuania. If we had won the latter, as we deserved to, then we would be in a different position," he noted of that 1-1 draw in Naples. "In any case, let us celebrate this victory and not look back to other encounters."
Donadoni used a 4-2-3-1 system and all except Antonio Di Natale were World Cup winners in the starting XI. "We must all remember how wonderful the players were today and the fans helped us. When you are dealing with players like this, the answers come automatically."
Luca Toni assures Italy are not struggling in qualifying for the Euro 2008 Finals. "We had to win at all costs considering the results of the other teams in the group. It was a good performance and we won deservedly," he said.
"We are catching up on that lost ground and have proved we are still an excellent team. We all want to go to the European Championships and will do everything we can to get there," added Toni.
"This is a squad that feels very united and together, so the bond keeps on growing after the World Cup and the coach is part of that. Over the next two games we need to pick up six points. The other teams are in front, so we have to catch up by beating Lithuania and the Faroe Islands in June.”
Azzurri captain Fabio Cannavaro admits there were problems at the start of Donadoni’s reign, but assures they are getting back to their old selves. "After some initial difficulties the coach did well to bring the group back together and give us new motivation. But we are not qualified yet and must maintain this same concentration all the way until the end of the Group," said the defender.
"It is only normal that the coach has a difficult role to fill and a lot of pressure. We all exchange opinions with him, but in the end he makes his decisions and we respect them.
"It is a very tough Group, but we have to focus on ourselves. It’s no good to start watching what the others do and making calculations."
The players bitterly protested against the treatment Donadoni was subjected to by the local media in the run-up to this crunch match and Cannavaro laughed off suggestions it all helped to motivate the squad. "To be honest I could do without the controversy! It is nice to be relaxed and left to work in peace, so I certainly won’t thank the media."
Other Group B Matches:
Ukraine moved top of Group B of the Euro 2008 qualifiers with a 1-0 win over Lithuania in Odessa. Ukraine made sure they were level on points with top two France and Scotland, but because they had already beaten the Scots, they secured top-spot. Ukraine, though, were made to work hard for victory by Lithuania - but they grabbed the winner just after the break. Dynamo Kiev star Oleg Gusev grabbed the goal as he poked the ball home after good work form Maxim Kalinichenko on the left.
Georgia claimed a comfortable 3-1 success over Faroe Islands in Tblisi to move to fifth in the group. The home side took the lead after 25 minutes when David Siradze struck. Just a minute into the second half Georgia doubled their lead when Alexander Iashvili side-footed home after being sent clear by Levan Kobiashvili. The Faroes fought back and retained some hope as Rogvi Jacbobsen scored just before the hour mark - although their chances were dented moments later when Frodi Benjaminsen was dismissed for a second yellow card. Georgia sealed the win on the stroke of full time when Iashvilli scored his second from the penalty sport after Georgi Demetradze was brought down by Suni Olsen.
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