World Cup qual - Ireland draw in Italy

Eurosport - Thu, 02 Apr 10:57:00 2009

A late equaliser from Robbie Keane gave Republic of Ireland a 1-1 World Cup qualifying Group 8 draw against 10-man Italy in Bari.

FOOTBALL 2008 World Cup qual Rep. Ireland Italy-Rep. Ireland Keane - 0

Keane smashed the ball into the bottom right corner in the 89th minute to cancel out Vincenzo Iaquinta's opener and extend Italian boss Giovanni Trapattoni's unbeaten competitive run at Ireland's helm to six matches.

The leveller came after an unusual match that saw the Irish dominate territorially but faced with a seemingly impregnable defensive brick wall laid by Italy.

Ireland's control of the ball - they had over 65 per cent of possession - came after Giampaolo Pazzini was shown a fourth-minute red card for what looked an innocuous challenge that left John O'Shea with a cut above the eye.

Replays hinted that intent was minimal, but referee Wolfgang Stark felt the Sampdoria striker led with his arm and by the letter of the law will argue he was justified to send him down the tunnel on his home debut.

Harsh sending-off aside, Stark did not have his best game.

He should have shown Italy skipper Fabio Cannavaro a second yellow card, while Ireland's Paul McShane could barely contain his anger when he was inexplicably booked after he was fouled by Iaquinta.

Ireland were also denied a clear free-kick on the edge of the box when Glenn Whelan was brought down late on, while Stephen Hunt had two penalty appeals waved away.

In their haste to get an early lead against weakened opposition, the Irish allowed space at the back that Italy soon exploited.

Andrew Pirlo played a high ball down the left channel and Lyon full-back Fabio Grosso raced on to it, easily held off McShane's challenge and placed a low ball into the path of Iaquinta, who flicked the ball home for his second goal in as many internationals.

From that moment on Ireland kept the ball well and stretched Italy's midfield but the Azzurri defended deep and utilised their superior aerial ability to rebuff Irish advances.

Hunt was sprightly down the flanks and thought he should have had a penalty when he seemed to be pushed in the area by Giorgio Chiellini.

Simon Pepe went close for Italy but struck the side-netting after Shay Given tipped a Grosso cross away from the waiting Iaquinta while Hunt forced a smart stop by Gianluigi Buffon with a well-executed dipping half-volley.

The second half saw the Irish continue to pile the pressure on as Italy tired.

Coach Marcello Lippi sensed this, so he brought defensively-minded players Angelo Comombo and Alessandro Dossena into the midfield.

It appeared to work, with Ireland toiling but - aside from Hunt's ambitious claim that Buffon brought him down after a poor touch send the Reading winger too wide - they failed to create clear-cut chances until the last five minutes, when Kevin Kilbane forced a good stop from Buffon.

Ireland sensed an opportunity, continued to battle and the breakthrough finally came when Caleb Folan bravely headed-on a long punt from keeper Shay Given and Keane was on hand to drill home the finish.

Trapattoni's men had chances to win it in injury time. Hunt had a shot deflected just over and a sequence of penalty-box pinball from the corner that followed saw the ball rebound over the bar for another corner.

Keane had a last-gasp opportunity spin inches over in the final seconds of added-time as he slid in with two Italy defenders and, in the end, it was Italy who were holding on for a well-earned point.

The result means Ireland are two points behind group leaders Italy, who have 14 points from six games.

Montenegro had a second-half penalty claim dismissed during a 0-0 draw in Georgia that kept the teams at the bottom of Group 8.

Stevan Jovetic was booked for diving when he tumbled in the area under the challenge of Georgia's Davit Odikadze in the 64th minute.

"There was clearly contact between the defender and the attacker," Montenegro coach Zoran Filipovic said afterwards. "The booking was a mistake."

Georgia, who rarely tested visiting keeper Vukasin Poleksic, are rooted to the foot of the table with three points from seven matches.

Montenegro are second from bottom with three points from five games.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria beat Cyprus 2-0 at the Vassil Levski Stadion, courtesy of goals from Ivelin Popov and Dimitar Makriev.

Reda Maher / Eurosport / Reuters

Comment 58 - 77 of 77

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  1. I remember all of you than italy sometime didn't­ win with team of 4th italia division....Italy-Pontedera­ 1-2....so please Irish people be quite...my town ...one­ time Ancona-Inter 3-0 but Ancona is gone in serie B­ second divisiion
    PLEASE QUITE

    4 time champion in the­ world a lot of times in final-semifina-quarter­ final..please

    From dinopierani, on Thu 2 Apr 10:27PM

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    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Thu 2 Apr 4:49PM

  3. Ireland, don't expect to win in Sofia! ;) Bulgaria­ will fight till the end.

    From momchil, on Thu 2 Apr 2:27PM

  4. Come on Ireland . Its time to win the group . I think­ that game will be a disaster for Italys confidience and­ a boost for Irish hopes . I hope Ireland dont destroy­ the momentom by playing @#$% againt Bulgaria again

    From , on Thu 2 Apr 12:00PM

  5. "whoever laughs last, laughs best"
    Nice of­ you all to stick your necks out though, I'll add it­ to my favourite memories journal.

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 11:56AM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Oh and doylers, population has nothing to do with­ footballing ability. Or China should have 8 world­ cups...
    and neither Trinidad nor Jamaica nor Kuwait etc­ should even be making the world cup..
    Christ, even­ Northern Ireland have 2 quarterfinal finishes, and­ Wales 1.

    You have 3 appearances in the world­ cup...
    1990, you got through your group by flipping a­ coin after not having won a single match.
    In fact all­ appearances have been ridden with luck... but­ that's your trademark i suppose.

    This clearly­ shows that Ireland are better than Italy. My mistake,­ maybe I should just go cry a river now. Have a nice­ year, and see you in September!! :D

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 11:54AM

  7. Italy showed one of the worst irish teams ever too much­ respect if they didnt sit back and defend the lead they­ cud of thrashed us! How on earth they let Keith Andrews­ and Glen Whelan dominate the midfield is pathetic!

    From irish09boi, on Thu 2 Apr 10:22AM

  8. Italy showed one of the poorest irish teams ever too­ much respect at home if the

    From irish09boi, on Thu 2 Apr 10:17AM

  9. U all are crazy,the italians were with 10 men,because­ of the referee , Ireland won at Georgia with 2-1 AGAIN­ because of the referee , don't u see that team can­ win only if the referee,helps them ? ? ? But that's­ football these dayse really :(

    From dobromir_kantev, on Thu 2 Apr 10:10AM

  10. Italy had 5 of their first team on the pitch, Ireland­ had 8. I don't get your comment about Ireland not­ having any of their midfield. Your so-called first team­ would have done absolutely nothing against Italy nor­ any other side incidentally, provided you hadn't­ got a ridiculous red card decision go your way in the­ first couple minutes.
    But it's good to keep­ dreaming, I'll be the first to laugh however when­ the Italians are in the semis for the umpteenth time­ next year, while the Irish stay home (also for the­ umpteenth time).
    You're all blinded by arrogance­ and some false sense of superiority, and need a reality­ check.
    As for the dimwits who commented below, read­ the comments if you think you don't claim to be­ world beaters, and world champions is a title, not an­ opinion loser.

    From i am a teacup, on Thu 2 Apr 10:01AM

  11. I don't give a @#$%, remember who spawned you­ greasy Italians - how I love to watch True Romance and­ Dennis Hopper.

    You'll never beat the Irish.

    From Tom C, on Thu 2 Apr 9:55AM

  12. cicciovilone - Robbed the game. What planet are you­ on.I agree that the sending off was harsh. Yellow card.­ But you play the game irrespective of the brutal­ referee decisions. You still forget Ireland should have­ had a penalty near the end. Cannovaro should have been­ sent off. So take note of that. As for football is not­ our business, we are no world beaters. We dont claim to­ be. Then again I dont think its your position to judge.­ You won the world cup, fair play. But dont you dare­ judge other countries standards. Coming from a country­ with corruption in its football circles, that comment­ is pathetic.

    From Sean, on Thu 2 Apr 9:48AM

  13. Hello, my fans. Come on, I'm an open minded girl­ from UK. I like this team very much. cicciovilone is my­ Favorite. I have a blog on –seekbi c o m-- I like to­ share the funny­ things with you guys~~

    From adalong70, on Thu 2 Apr 9:47AM

  14. italy world champions HAHAHA your havin a laugh. Daniel­ de Rossi should have been booked when he brushed­ shoulders with O Shea and went down holding his face­ like a schoolgirl. Cannavaro,s time wasting 5 minutes­ from time came back to haunt him so in the end it was­ deserved for the republic but I think its about time­ Kevin Foley gets a run a natural right back he has been­ the buisness this year for wolves 44 starts all season­ thats more than any other irish player in England.­ mcshane aint a natural right back he,s too slow and it­ showed lastnight

    From johnnydromid, on Thu 2 Apr 9:42AM

  15. hey 63 ur a clown.....italy are 'world­ champions' ireland are 34th ( i think) in the world­ we had no rite goin into the game hopin to get anythin­ but traps army pulled it out of the bag and by the end­ deserved a win.... can't wait to get ye on the­ hallowed turf of croke park we'll show ye how to­ defend at home...... ya p...r....i...c...k

    From zigzigziggyzig, on Thu 2 Apr 9:34AM

  16. cicciovilone, Italy cannot play rugby, Ireland play a­ good game of football, much better game of football­ than Italy do at rugby,...........,,and don't call­ the Irish stupid

    From collins_tim_2000, on Thu 2 Apr 9:32AM

  17. Please note, Pazzini didn't hit O'Shea on­ purpose, he jumped for the ball and O'Shea got­ caught in the way, at maximum it should have been a­ yellow card, but let not forget the tackle on an­ Italian defender 2 minutes before, that should have­ been a straight red for the Irishman.

    From Malcolm C, on Thu 2 Apr 9:27AM

  18. ahahahaha...what i have to read on this ridicolous­ forum....i can't believe how much st...pid the­ irish people are!!! ireland is better than italy????­ italy cheat??? what game did you watch? don't you­ remember we played ALL the game 10 vs 11 for an absurd­ decision? no, that's not important because it's­ italy. Simply: yesterday you robbed the game. Believe:­ you can play rugby, football is not your business

    From cicciovilone, on Thu 2 Apr 9:23AM

  19. andrea b - If Ireland paid the referee then Cannovaro­ would have been having an early shower after being sent­ off. Referee was a disaster, but all in all I think he­ was unfair to both teams

    From Sean, on Thu 2 Apr 9:17AM

  20. Only one question: if Italy has a very bad football as­ you all say, why both England and Ireland have an­ Italian coach ?

    From andrea b, on Thu 2 Apr 8:21AM
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