International friendly - 20/8/03
Germany 0 - 1 Italy
Vieri 17 (I)
Stuttgart (Germany)
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Alessandro Del Piero, Francesco Totti and Christian Vieri combined for a spectacular goal as Italy won 1-0 in Stuttgart.
Giovanni Trapattoni continued to experiment with the 4-2-3-1 formation, but had Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero and Christian Vieri together for the first time since the 2002 World Cup exit to South Korea.
Alessio Tacchinardi made his return after 14 months of snubs, stepping in for the injured Cristiano Zanetti and Gennaro Gattuso.
Nicola Legrottaglie replaced Alessandro Nesta, out with a muscular problem, and was one of six Juventus stars in the starting eleven.
Germany were forced to do without several of their stars, most notably Michael Ballack.
The Azzurri should have scored after 90 seconds, but Alessandro Del Piero failed to make the most of a Mauro Camoranesi centre.
However, up the other end Nicola Legrottaglie’s error let Freier through and Christian Panucci brought him down on the edge of the box.
On the resulting free kick Gianluigi Buffon did well to palm the Neuville effort round the post.
Germany increased the pressure on an uncertain defence and Woerns’ diving header was deflected wide.
But the Italians broke the deadlock with a magnificent team move between their top stars.
Del Piero, Totti and Vieri combined with a series of first-time passes until the Inter striker swept home from ten yards.
The fans were awaiting the Golden Trio and they certainly lived up to expectations with this splendid goal.
Del Piero started the move out wide on the left, then Totti and Vieri exchanged touches to cut the German defence apart.
The trident combined again soon after, but the goal was disallowed for a dubious offside flag.
Totti threaded through for Vieri, but rather than shoot he opted to cut across for the unmarked Del Piero to tap in.
The Juventus man appeared to be level with the ball and therefore not in an offside position, but the referee ruled out the goal.
These top stars who have not played together for over a year relished the opportunity to play attractive football to feet and entertained the crowd.
Totti also went for goal himself, leaving a defender for dead with a fine dummy before Oliver Kahn blocked his daisy-cutter.
The defence remained fragile and Panucci again brought down Neuville as he prepared to run into the box for a one-on-one with Buffon.
Gianluca Zambrotta was easily the best performer in the back four and recovered a difficult situation against Neuville.
Germany had the first chance of the second half with a fine Rau angled drive that drifted just wide.
Italy’s first substitution introduced Roma’s versatile player Marco Delvecchio to cover the left side of that attacking trident.
Vieri should have netted his second of the match on 57 minutes, but after racing past Kahn, his touch let him down and allowed Kehl to recover.
Simone Perrotta also blasted a good volley over from the edge of the box, but Panucci miraculously got back to clear a Miroslav Klose effort off the line after he had beaten Buffon.
The substitute, a transfer target for Roma, made an immediate impact and his drive brought another tough save out of the Juve ‘keeper.
Lazio man Stefano Fiore took over from Camoranesi on the right side of midfield, but Buffon performed a fantastic reaction save on Schneider’s solo effort and a point-blank Klose header, while a Jeremies piledriver rattled the woodwork.
Trap’s tactics regressed into an old pattern with Totti’s long balls forward for Delvecchio the only option once Vieri was substituted.
Germany were pushing and thought they had earned a penalty for Legrottaglie’s challenge on Klose, but the striker was perhaps harshly booked for diving.
Italy had few chances in the second half, but Tacchinardi forced Kahn into a fingertip save with one of his trademark long-range efforts and Delvecchio failed to make the most of Bernardo Corradi’s centre.
The friendly performance boosted morale, but not as much as the news that Wales have lost their Euro 2004 qualifier in Serbia-Montenegro.
This puts Italy just two points behind Mark Hughes’ men and with the same number of games played.
The clash between the two at the San Siro on Sept 6 now becomes crucial, as the Serbs are back in the running for a play-off spot.
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Germany: Kahn; Hinkel, Woerns (Rehme 46), Ramelow (Kehl 46), Baumann; Rau, Freier, Jeremies, Schneider; Neuville (Lauth 71), Bobic (Klose 60)
Italy: Buffon; Panucci, Cannavaro, Legrottaglie (Ferrari 78), Zambrotta; Tacchinardi, Perrotta; Camoranesi (Fiore 64), Totti (Corradi 75), Del Piero (Delvecchio 54); Vieri (Ambrosini 67)
Ref: Nielsen (Den)
Excellent Match for Buffon, Man of the match IMO :thumb: