Italy reserves down Sweden in friendly

November 19, 2009

Centre-back Giorgio Chiellini scored the only goal of the game as an Italy second string beat Sweden 1-0 in Cesena in an international friendly on Wednesday.

The world champions struggled to impose themselves on their well-organised opponents, who were missing their star player Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

But if Sweden had something to prove having missed out on World Cup qualification, they did little in this match to suggest they might soon bounce back to past glories from the 1990s.

True to his word, Italy coach Marcello Lippi rang the changes from the near full-strength side that drew 0-0 with the Netherlands on Saturday.

The result was an almost unrecognisable Italy with only Juventus centre-back Chiellini a regular first-team fixture.

But with the other players eager to impress their coach to try to book a ticket to South Africa next year, and with Sweden’s players hoping to make their mark on new boss Erik Hamren, it promised an entertaining game.

And there was but a short wait for the action to begin as former Sunderland forward Tobias Hysen beat the Italian offside trap on 3 minutes only to be denied by Cagliari goalkeeper Federico Marchetti, who made a reaction one-handed save from the Swede’s hurried effort.

Italy were soon in the ascendancy and PSV Eindhoven goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson, formerly of Manchester City, tipped Chiellini’s close range flicked-header over the bar from Antonio Di Natale’s lob forwards.

Isaksson was there again on 20 minutes to parry Di Natale’s shot before Cagliari midfielder Davide Biondini blasted the follow-up wide.

Two minutes later Bolton’s striker Johan Elmander dragged wide his snap-shot from 17 yards as Sweden made a rare foray forwards.

Italy had the lead on 28 minutes when Sampdoria’s Giampaolo Pazzini got above his marker to head on Marco Marchionni’s corner and Chiellini arrived unmarked at the back post to score with a diving header — his second goal for Italy.

The second half saw a raft of substitutions which disrupted the flow of play and ensured that chances were hard to come by.

Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi created a yard of space behind the Swedish backline but sent his chip high and wide.

Sweden goalkeeper Isaksson came closest to snatching an equaliser with the last touch of the game when he came up for a corner in a last desperate throw of the dice but his header was off target.

ROME (AFP)

Tags: Antonio Di Natale, ascendancy, biondini, coach marcello lippi, giampaolo pazzini, giorgio chiellini, italy coach, Johan Elmander, marchetti, marco marchionni, new boss, offside trap, psv eindhoven, second string, star player, true to his word, word italy, world cup qualification

nter draw while Beckham forced to wait for Milan start

January 10, 2009

ROME (AFP) – Defending champions Inter Milan endured a disappointing start to 2009 when they were forced to come from a goal down to salvage a 1-1 draw against Cagliari at the San Siro on Saturday.

The result gave Jose Mourinho’s side a seven-point lead over Juventus, who face Siena on Sunday, at the top of Serie A.

Inter needed Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 77th minute strike, his 11th of the season, to level Robert Acquafresca’s 65th-minute opener for Cagliari.

The champions, who were chasing a ninth successive win, welcomed Luis Figo back for his first start since September, but scoring opportunities were scarce in the first half with Javier Zanetti wasting the best openings.

Aquafresca made them pay when he fired in past goalkeeper Julio Cesar after a long punt forward while Davide Biondini wasted a great opening to make it 2-0 in the 71st minute.

Ibrahimovic saved Inter’s blushes when he found the target, but much of the hard of the work in the build-up had been done by Argentine international striker Hernan Crespo, who had only been on the pitch for 10 minutes after replacing Walter Samuel.

"It was not a positive first half and we played our best football when Cagliari scored," said Mourinho.

"Cagliari did well and threatened on the counter-attack. It was a bit of a strange match."

David Beckham will not be in AC Milan’s starting line-up against Roma on Sunday, according to Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti.

"Beckham is ready to play, but he’s coming out of two months of inactivity, so it’s difficult to name him as a starter for the match against Roma," said the Milan chief.

"He will play if he is in the right condition and if we consider he can give a positive contribution to the match. Beckham is a great professional, very committed and we are all happy with him, even if he will only stay at Milan for two months."

The ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder was "ready to help out at Milan, we are happy he’s with us even if he’ll only be staying two months."

"If he then wants to stay with us, that would suit us very nicely, but his contract with the club is clear and I think he’ll respect that."

Beckham, who is due to return to LA Galaxy in March, made his Milan debut in midweek when he played the first half of a friendly in Dubai against German side Hamburg.

In Saturday’s other match, Genoa boosted their chances of a place in Europe next season with a 3-0 home win over Torino with Giuseppe Biava, Bosko Jankovic and Thiago Motta on target.

Written by: AFP