Italy 2 Georgia 0FOR THE second time in five days, Italy last night were less than impressive when picking up three vital World Cup points, beating a modest Georgia 2-0 in Udine, northern Italy. Having opened up brightly, scoring through midfielder Daniele De Rossi in only the 17th minute, Italy largely played a containing game from there to the finish when De Rossi again hit the target with a 89th minute winner.
Speaking after the game, Italy coach Marcello Lippi pronounced himself satisfied notwithstanding his side's stuttering performance:
"That's just fine, just fine. If you think that we've had a whole heap of injuries over the last five days, then this is fine, we've picked up two wins. We'll be back in a month's time, looking much sharper, but in the meantime we've picked up six points, perhaps without setting the world on fire, but that's just fine . . .We had to struggle to win but it's always better to have to struggle".
After the fright they had suffered in that difficult 2-1 win against Cyprus last Saturday, Italy were clearly relieved to find themselves opening up against a Georgia side that was clearly more concerned not to concede a goal rather than to score one.
With the Georgians content to play in their own half, Italy looked like a different side with Mauro Camoranesi, Alberto Aquilani and Luca Toni all having good chances in the opening minutes.
Italy's goal from De Rossi seemed both inevitable and too easy. De Rossi picked up a ball 35 yards out from goal, stepped past Levan Kobiashvili and unleashed an unstoppable drive that left much-criticised Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Loria with no chance.
Having taken such an early lead, the Italians inevitably slowed the pace, partly because of early season lack of fitness and partly because they felt themselves to be in total control of the situation.
This proved dangerous because it encouraged the Georgians to take heart so much so that Kobiashvili and Levan Kenia sprang an ill-worked Italian offside trap in the 27th minute. Kobiashvili made good ground down the left wing before setting up a glorious chance for Kenia who, to the good fortune of Italy, completely mishit his shot.
The substitutions of Angelo Palombo for Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Del Piero for Antonio Di Natale added some fresh Italian energy in the second half but little else.
Indeed, goalkeeper Gigi Buffon, very much the hero against Cyprus, was again called into action in the 77th minute when Kobiashvili outflanked Gianluca Zambrotta only to see Buffon clear the ball from the edge of his area.
Just when it seemed that Italy would limp home to a 1-0 win, veteran Del Piero worked a little bit of typical magic.
Dwelling on the ball on the edge of the area, he laid off a perfect little pass to the mobile De Rossi, giving the Roma midfielder a straightforward chance to wrap up the result.
With two wins from two games, the World Cup holders now lead the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifying Group Eight.
ITALY:Buffon, Zambrotta, Dossena, Legrottaglie, Cannavaro, De Rossi, Aquilani, Pirlo (Palombo 45), Camoranesi, Toni (Iaquinta 70), Di Natale (Del Piero 56). Subs not used: De Sanctis, Cassetti, Barzagli, Gilardino. Booked: Pirlo, Aquilani.
GEORGIA: Loria, Lobjanidze, Salukvadze, Kaladze, Eliava (Kvirkvelia 45), Menteshashvili (Odikadze 68), Kobiashvili, Khmaladze, Kenia, Iashvili, Mchedildze (Siradze 54). Subs not used: Kvaskhvadze, Shashiashvili, Kvakhadze, Aleksidze. Booked: Kenia.
Referee:Thomas Einwaller (Austria).
