Wins for Italy, Italy Under-21s, Switzerland and Montenegro made it a positive Tuesday evening for the international Bianconeri contingent.
Only Bendtner’s Denmark and Isla’s Chile tasted defeat on a pulsating night of qualifying fixtures.
Starting on home soil, four Bianconeri were named in Cesare Prandelli’s starting line-up for the clash with Denmark in Milan: Barzagli, Chiellini, Pirlo and Marchisio.
Two goals in the space of five first-half minutes from Montolivo and De Rossi put the Azzurri firmly in the driving seat. But they were forced to dig deep after Denmark halved the deficit ahead of the break, before Osvaldo saw red just 18 seconds into the restart. Yet Balotelli extinguished any Danish hopes of a fightback by making it three on 54 minutes.
Giaccherini made a late substitute appearance in place of goalscorer Montolivo, while Bendtner played the full 90 minutes for Morten Olsen’s men.
Meanwhile, the future of Italian football continues to look bright after Devis Mangia successfully steered the Azzurrini to next summer’s Euro 2013 Under-21 championships with two victories over Sweden. Having established a one-goal lead from Friday’s first-leg in Pescara, Marrone and his team-mates triumphed 3-2 in Scandinavia thanks to strikes from Insigne, Florenzi and Immobile.
Elsewhere, a second-half double helped Lichtsteiner’s Switzerland to a 2-0 win in Iceland. After coming under heavy spells of pressure from the hosts during a combative opening period, Barnetta curled home to break the deadlock on 66 minutes. Lichtsteiner’s cross-cum-shot was then turned home by Gavranovic to make the points safe with just over ten minutes remaining.
Montenegro moved to the top of Group H with an impressive victory in Ukraine. Damjanovic’s effort on the stroke of half-time was enough to keep the hosts at bay, with Bianconeri striker Vucinic coming off the bench in the closing stages.
Over in South America, Isla’s Chile – minus the suspended Vidal – slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Argentina.
Source: Juventus.com
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