Italy ease past the Ukraine
The Italians have had an easy draw with the Czech Republic being the only big name they have faced so far. The Ukraine proved no match as Italy breezed through 3-0, hardly having to break sweat. They now have a semi-final clash with hosts Germany on Tuesday to look forward to.
Italy opened the scoring early with the excellent Gianluca Zambrotta smashing a shot through the legs of a Ukrainian defender which Shovkovskiy should have saved. He only got a hand to it however and Italy were ahead. From the neutral’s point of view this was the worst thing that could ave happened as Italy sat back for the rest of the first half. The Ukraine were totally devoid of ideas and with little quality in their team never looked like getting an equaliser. Their one moment in the spotlight came early in the seocnd half when they created 3 chances in about a minute. First, Buffon made as superb save from Gusev’s header, smashing his own head against the post in the process, he then saved Gusev’s drive and Zambrotta cleared Kalinichenko’s effort on the rebound off the line.
Annoyed by the efforts of the Ukrainian upstarts, the Italians decided to put them back in their place. Serie A’s top scorer Luca Toni scored his first goal of the tournament, heading in Totti’s cross. His second followed a little later as he tapped in Zambrotta’s cross. Game over. As they celebrated, Cannavaro held up a flag in support of Gianluca Pessotto, ex-player and now Sporting Director at Juve who is in a serious condition in hospital following a suicide attempt earlier this week. Playing for Pessotto may just give Italy the motivation to go all the way.
