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Spain 1-0 Italy (Elche, Spain)
A wonderful left-footed volley from substitute David Villa 12 minutes from time gave Spain a 1-0 victory against world champions Italy in a friendly international in Elche.
Italy made a positive start and after 13 minutes Luca Toni headed an Andrea Pirlo free-kick from the left into the Spanish net but the goal was controversially ruled out for an alleged foul by Fabio Cannavaro at the far post.
The home side quickly got the ball back in play with Fernando Torres making an impressive run down the left. The striker crossed well for David Silva, whose right-footed volley flashed just wide of Gianluigi Buffon's right-hand post.
Spain started to dominate possession in midfield and Buffon was forced to make two saves in quick succession to deny Torres and Cesc Fabregas. Shortly before half time the Azzurri 'keeper made an agile dive to his right to palm another dangerous low shot from Fabregas wide.
Italy threatened from the start of the second half, when Mauro Camoranesi latched on to a low cross by Fabio Grosso and shot left-footed against the bar with Iker Casillas beaten.
Christian Panucci then headed a Daniele De Rossi free-kick over from close range while Spain had a good opportunity to take the lead when Fabregas shot from close range but Buffon made another good save, blocking the midfielder's effort with his body.
Casillas responded with a fine save of his own to deny Camoranesi after the Argentina-born midfielder found himself with only the Real Madrid goalkeeper to beat after a superb one-two with De Rossi.
However, Roberto Donadoni's side were undone as Cannavaro headed a long ball from Xabi Alonso towards Villa, who found the top corner of Buffon's goal with a tremendous volley.
Italy will have one final warm-up game ahead of the European Championship finals against Belgium in Florence on May 30.
[Azzurri Reaction] - [Euro 2008 Rivals]
Source: UEFA
Group 1: Azerbaijan U21 0-2 Italy U21 (Baku)
Giuseppe Rossi scored twice as Italy made it seven wins out of eight in the Under-21's Euro 2009 qualifying Group 1 with this victory over Azerbaijan.
The Villarreal forward struck 18 minutes into each half as the group leaders dominated the bottom team in Baku.
Sebastian Giovinco created both goals, with the Empoli playmaker conjuring the breakthrough by playing a one-two with Robert Acquafresca before providing an easy finish for Rossi.
But the Azzurrini didn't have things all their own way. With German coach Bernhard Lippert making his debut at the Azerbaijan helm, the hosts responded well to the setback of falling behind, with winger Asif Mammadov and striker Vagif Dzavadov catching the eye.
Pierluigi Casiraghi's men continued to hold sway in midfield, however, and Giovinco drew the second-half foul from goalkeeper Osman Umarov which signalled the end of the contest as Rossi confidently converted a 63rd-minute penalty.
Giovinco might have scored himself later, while Vugar Nadyrov came closest for the hosts when he narrowly failed to convert a dangerous cross.
The victory keeps Italy on top of Group 1 with 22 points after eight games, and a win in their penultimate game against Greece or in their final game against Croatia in September will secure a spot in the play-offs.
Each group winner, as well as the four highest ranked second place teams in the ten groups, will advance to the play-offs. The play-offs will determine which seven nations join hosts Sweden in the final tournament in June 2009.
But before the concluding double header, Casiraghi can fully concentrate on the "Under-23" squad that will represent Italy at the Beijing Olympic Games in August.
GROUP 1 TABLE:
[1] ITA - PLD: 08 - PTS: 22
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[2] CRO - PLD: 08 - PTS: 18
[3] GRE - PLD: 07 - PTS: 13
[4] ALB - PLD: 07 - PTS: 10
[5] FAR - PLD: 08 - PTS: 03
[6] AZE - PLD: 08 - PTS: 01
GROUP 1 REMAINING FIXTURES:
Albania P-P Greece (26/03/08) *
Italy v Greece (05/09/08)
Croatia v Albania (06/09/08)
Azerbaijan v Faroe Islands (06/09/08)
Croatia v Italy (09/09/08)
Albania v Azerbaijan (10/09/08)
Greece v Faroe Islands (10/09/08)
* Albania have been suspended from all international football competition by FIFA and UEFA due to political interference in the running of the Albanian Football Association. As a result their qualifier against Greece set for Wednesday has been postponed until further notice.
Source: UEFA
There are no surprises in Roberto Donadoni's 21-man squad for Italy's friendly game against fellow UEFA Euro 2008 contenders Spain in Elche on Wednesday.
Juventus pair Gianluigi Buffon and Mauro Camoranesi have returned to the squad after missing February's 3-1 win against Portugal in Zurich due to injuries.
However, Bianconeri captain Alessando Del Piero, Sampdoria's Antonio Cassano and AC Milan's Alberto Gilardino were again excluded from an attack which includes Marco Borriello and Luca Toni, the leading scorers in Serie A and the Bundesliga respectively.
The squad will gather in Milan on Monday where they will train before flying out to Alicante on Tuesday for the match, which kicks off at the Luis Valero stadium in Elche at 2100 (UK time).
After visiting Spain, the Italian Football Federation have confirmed that the Azzurri will face Belgium in Florence on 30 May in the last warm-up game ahead of the finals.
The FIGC also announced that there will be no further discussion about Roberto Donadoni's contract, which expires in July, until after the end of the tournament in Switzerland and Austria.
The Spaniards, who are on an impressive run of 16 unbeaten matches, named a 22-man squad earlier today with coach Luis Aragones again not picking Real Madrid legend Raul Gonzalez.
Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Livorno).
Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Fabio Grosso (Lyon), Marco Materazzi (Inter), Christian Panucci (Roma), Massimo Oddo (Milan), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona).
Midfielders: Massimo Ambrosini (Milan), Alberto Aquilani (Roma), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Simone Perrotta (Roma), Andrea Pirlo (Milan).
Forwards: Marco Borriello (Genoa), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich).
Spain squad
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool).
Defenders: Juanito Gutierrez (Real Betis), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Raul Albiol (Valencia), Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool), Fernando Navarro (Mallorca), Carles Puyol (Barcelona).
Midfielders: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), David Silva (Valencia), Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona), Albert Riera (Espanyol), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Ruben De La Red (Getafe), Marcos Senna (Villarreal).
Forwards: David Villa (Valencia), Daniel Guiza (Mallorca), Luis Garcia (Espanyol), Fernando Torres (Liverpool).
Italy coach Roberto Donadoni will have to wait until July to pen a new deal with the Italian Football Federation.
The former Livorno boss had been expected to receive an extension to his current contract, which expires two weeks after UEFA Euro 2008, prior to this summer’s finals in Austria and Switzerland.
Earlier this month, the FIGC had said an agreement with Donadoni would be reached before next Wednesday's friendly with Spain. But despite the assurances of FIGC President Giancarlo Abete that Donadoni is the man to lead the Azzurri in the future, no formal agreement has materialised and it won’t for another four months.
"The base of the relationship between the Federation and Donadoni is the united aim to honour the prestigious tradition of the national side at Euro 2008," a statement read.
"President Abete and Roberto Donadoni want to reiterate that they have a relationship of reciprocal faith and esteem on the professional and personal level that goes beyond contractual issues.
"We will discuss a new deal when the current one expires in July."
There have been suggestions that the FIGC won’t stick with Donadoni if he fails to lead the Azzurri to at least the semi-finals of the European Championships.
Rumours circulated that there would be a rescission clause activated after Euro 2008 should the world champions fail to reach the final four, but it now appears that the FIGC have taken a more transparent approach.
Source: C4 Football Italia
Bari forward Davide Lanzafame is the only new face in Pierluigi Casiraghi's 21-man squad for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier away to Azerbaijan in Baku on Tuesday.
Lanzafame, who has scored eight goals in 28 Serie B games this term, replaces Empoli striker Nicola Pozzi, who is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Lanzafame will share the attacking duties with the in-form Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, Giuseppe Rossi and Robert Acquafresca.
The latter, who has scored four goals in his last four Serie A appearance with Cagliari, has this week turned down the opportunity of playing for Poland, where his mother comes from, at senior level.
"I thank Poland for their interest but I decided to continue playing for Italy," the 20-year-old said.
The Azzurrini have won six of their seven games in qualifying Group 1 and have a one-point lead over second-placed Croatia, who have played a game more.
The squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Enrico Alfonso (Venezia), Andrea Consigli (Rimini), Salvatore Sirigu (Cremonese).
Defenders: Antonio Bocchetti (Frosinone), Paolo De Ceglie (Siena), Lorenzo De Silvestri (Lazio), Lino Marzoratti (Empoli), Marco Motta (Torino), Francesco Pisano (Cagliari), Marco Rossi (Parma).
Midfielders: Francesco Bolzoni (Inter), Luca Cigarini (Parma), Daniele Dessena (Parma), Sebastian Giovinco (Empoli), Claudio Marchisio (Empoli), Piermario Morosini (Vicenza), Andrea Russotto (Treviso).
Attackers: Robert Acquafresca (Cagliari), Davide Lanzafame (Bari), Pablo Daniel Osvaldo (Fiorentina), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal).
Source: UEFA
