GROUP 8 Cyprus 1 Italy 2: IF THERE is one thing that Italian fans believe about their World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi, it is that he is a "lucky" manager.
After Italy's last-gasp 2-1 win in Larnaca on Saturday night, that view of the national team coach will have been strongly re-inforced.
Outrun, out-muscled and outplayed for long periods by Cyprus, the World Cup holders have reason to be grateful to goalkeeper Gigi Buffon and striker Antonio Di Natale for their three points.
Buffon gave the sort of performance that justifies the "best goalkeeper in the world" label, saving at least three clear chances in the first half, while Di Natale scored twice from just three shots on goal in the entire match.
Such was the quality of the Cypriot performance that for long periods in the second half it seemed that Italy would be lucky to finish on a 1-1 scoreline.
With total honesty, coach Lippi admitted that Dame Fortune had been on his side, commenting: "We picked up more here than we deserved. It was a very hard game for us.
"But when you meet fitter opponents, with really fast men up front, it's difficult to contain them. They attacked us in every area of the pitch for the full 90 minutes.
"You have to admit that they had a number of good chances to score."
Italy got off to the worst possible start when central defender Alessandro Gamberini had to be substituted by Andrea Barzagli in only the third minute because of a dislocated shoulder.
Italy's problems in defence were further exacerbated when left back Fabio Grosso came off in just the 18th minute suffering from two cracked ribs and replaced by Roma defender Marco Cassetti.
In between the substitutions and somewhat against the run of play, Italy had, however, appeared to set themselves up for a good night when Di Natale made the most of some hesitant defending to advance unchallenged to the edge of the Cypriot area and hit a shot whose late bounce fooled goalkeeper Antonis Georgallides.
Rather than being dispirited by that setback, though, the enterprising Cypriots played their way back into the game when Efstathios Aloneftis finished off an excellent attacking move down the right wing for a 28th-minute equaliser.
With the Italian midfield consistently overwhelmed and with the two-man attack of Alberto Gilardino and Luca Toni looking almost irrelevant, it came as no surprise when Lippi chose to gamble, making his third substitution at half-time by bringing on midfield battler Gennaro Gattuso for Toni.
Lippi's bold move proved partly effective with Italy looking more balanced and less porous in the second half.
For all that, though, the Cypriots still created at least another three clear chances, with defender Elias Charalambous twice going close from corner kicks while substitute striker Dimitris Christofi beat both Gianluca Zambrotta and Fabio Cannavaro for pace before hitting his shot wide, with only Buffon to beat.
In the end, however, Italy hit back with an injury-time goal when Gilardino delicately back-heeled a speculative through ball to Mauro Camoranesi.
The Italo-Argentine knocked it across to the unmarked Di Natale who scored the winning, 92nd-minute goal from close range.
Little wonder that Cypriot coach Angelos Anastasiades commented after the game: "We played a perfect game only to waste so many chances. What a pity about that late defensive error.
"But this performance gives us a lot of hope for our future games."
Both Italy and Cyprus next play Georgia in Group 8, with Italy meeting them in Udine on Wednesday, while Cyprus are due to travel to Georgia next month.
AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso has pulled out of Italy's squad for Wednesdays World Cup qualifier against Georgia after injuring his wrist in training on Sunday. The injury requires an operation.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi is also without defenders Alessandro Gamberini and Fabio Grosso, both of whom were injured at the start of Saturday's victory over Cyprus.
