France 0 Italy 2SO, ANOTHER battle of the Blues goes the way of the Italians, who now go on to Vienna and a quarter-final clash with Spain. Let's hope the two produce a better game than last night's at the Leitzigrund Stadium where an injury to Franck Ribery and Eric Abidal's sending off had gone a long way to deciding the outcome of an eventful but disappointing game even before Andrea Pirlo had opened the scoring.
The Italians, needless to say, weren't complaining, and from the point when Daniele de Rossi doubled their lead with a deflected long-range free just after the hour mark, their 12,000 or so supporters seemed at least as preoccupied with events in Bern with news of the Netherlands' goals prompting a growing wave of celebration.
They were, of course, worth their win but then the game barely qualified as a contest. The French coach did what most expected, dropping three, including Lilian Thuram, in an attempt to add pace at the back and composure further forward, but within a matter of minutes any debate on whether he had finally gotten his selection right was academic.
Briefly, when Abidal had completely misheaded a long Fabio Grosso punt and Luca Toni sent a rushed shot wide, it had seemed that French luck was in but in the eighth minute Ribery and Gianluca Zambrotta tangled as the pair chased the ball and the Italian clipped his opponent awkwardly but unintentionally on the back of the leg. It was clear almost immediately that for the most creative of Domenech's players, the game was over.
The setback was compounded in style midway through the half when Toni was put through for the umpteenth time but went down as Abidal chased him back towards goal. The defender appeared to pull out of an attempt to make a tackle and it was hard to see deliberate contact but, already on a yellow card, he looked to be in trouble even before the Slovakian referee produced a straight red.
After Pirlo converted the penalty, Samir Nasri, only on 16 minutes for Ribery, was sacrificed, to make way for Jean-Alain Boumsong and the French set about the rather improbable business of pursuing the win they needed to save themselves.
With the Italians rather comfortably controlling the pattern and pace of the game Gennaro Gattuso's influence steadily increased while Pirlo started well but they then drifted out of things a little. Both were ultimately replaced and neither will start Sunday's game against the Spanish after needlessly picking up bookings, Pirlo for a particularly reckless challenge on Karim Benzema prompted by France's continuation of play while Simone Perrotta lay injured on the ground.
The pair's absence will make life that much more difficult for Roberto Donadoni as he plans for a game that will not be quite the giveaway this one was.
With De Rossi probably the side's best performer in midfield the Italians coasted their way through the second period and might easily have had another couple of goals but for an astonishing run of misses that continued all the way into stoppage time at the end and a couple of excellent saves by Gregory Coupet.
Perrotta did well enough but Antonio Cassano made less of an impact than he had managed when coming on from the bench in the earlier group games. The pair consistently provided strong options for team-mates looking to get the ball forward, though, and did easily enough to tie up the full-backs the French really needed to be getting forward.
The Italian full-backs, meanwhile, were outstanding, particularly Fabio Grosso, who entirely frustrated Sidney Govou's efforts to exert any influence on the game.
Without meaningful support of any kind Thierry Henry did as much you expect given his lack of form this season. The Barcelona striker's best chance came 10 minutes before the break when William Gallas made a rare foray into the Italian half before releasing him with a fine low through ball but his shot was poor, and flew low across the face of the goal. His misery will have been compounded by being the one to have deflected de Rossi's free past Coupet.
Domenech had no option but to throw bodies forward and Nicolas Anelka arrived to complete what was now a three-man attack. The French, though, struggled to get any real penetration against opponents now entirely content to sit back and then look to catch them on the break.
Anything still seems possible with this Italian side but a place in the semi-finals won't be handed to them quite so easily.
FRANCE:Coupet, Clerc, Gallas, Abidal, Evra, Govou (Anelka 66), Toulalan, Makelele, Ribery (Nasri 10), Benzema, Henry, Nasri (Boumsong 26). Subs Not Used: Mandanda, Frey, Vieira, Malouda, Thuram, Squillaci, Gomis, Sagnol, Diarra. Sent Off: Abidal (24). Booked: Evra, Govou, Boumsong, Henry.
ITALY:Buffon, Zambrotta, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso, Pirlo (Ambrosini 55), De Rossi, Gattuso (Aquilani 82), Toni, Perrotta (Camoranesi 64), Cassano. Subs Not Used: Amelia, De Sanctis, Gamberini, Barzagli, Del Piero, Di Natale, Borriello, Quagliarella, Materazzi. Booked: Chiellini, Pirlo, Gattuso.
Referee:Lubos Michel (Slovakia).
