Tuesday June 22nd

Italy Win in Vain

A goal in stoppage time gave Italy victory, but it turned out not to be enough. Zdravkov made a magnificent save from Fiore´s volley in the 13th minute, but the ball fell to del Piero, who missed his chance to score. Buffon turned Petrov´s shot away for a corner in the 29th minutes, and when Materazzi was penalized for pulling Berbatov down in the box, Petrov stepped up to send Buffon the wrong way from the spot. With only 3 minutes of the second half gone, Cassano smashed the ball against the underside of the crossbar, and Perrota forced it home. Italy dominated the second half and had several half-chances, but Buffon did have to dive to his left to keep out a free kick by Pertov in the 85th minute. A header from Nesta was pushed over the bar in the 86 minute, and with Italy pushing forward in Stoppage time, Petrov managed to break through, but Buffon blocked his effort. With almost the last kick of the match a low cross by Oddo was stabbed into the top right corner by Cassano, but his celebrations were short lived as news from the other match came in.

Nordic Neighbours Share Joy

In a pulsating match Sweden and Denmark drew 2-2 to send Italy home. Denmark´s Grönkjaer came close in the 14th minute, but hit the side netting. In the 28th minute Tomasson´s dipping shot found Isaksson off his line, and Denmark were a goal up. Sörensen made a double save from Larsson and Ibrahimovic in the 35th minute, and 3 minutes later Mellberg smashed the ball against the post with a header. The second half had just begun when Larsson was brought down in the box by Sörensen. Larsson put Sweden on equal terms from the spot. A shot in the 66th minute came off a Swedish defender and fell to Tomasson who found the back of the net. A minute later Isaksson had to make a great save from Sand who shot from 10 yards. An effort by Ibrahimovic was straight at the keeper in the 76th minute, and 2 minutes later issaksson turned away a shot by Jörgensen for a corner. With only a minute left Sörensen couldn't hold onto a cross and dropped the ball in front of Jonson who found the back of the net to spark wild celebrations on and off the pitch. The 2-2 result automatically sent Italy home and the Nordic neighbours into the next round.