Del Piero Penalties Seal Italy Win
ANCONA, Italy (October 11, 2000 5:39 p.m. EDT http://www.sportserver.com) - Two second half penalties
from Alessandro Del Piero gave Italy a 2-0 win over Georgia in
their World Cup European group eight qualifier on Wednesday.
Italy was pushed all the way by an enterprising Georgian
side which would be justified in feeling it deserved at least a
point from an evenly balanced match.
Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni was clearly pleased to have
picked up another win after Saturday's 3-0 victory of Romania
but admitted his side needed to thank its goalkeeper Francesco
Toldo for two vital first half saves.
"Georgia really made us suffer in the first half and twice
Toldo had to save us. But we started to improve in midfield and
in the end I think it was a fair result. But I think that
Georgia showed tonight that they can be our most dangerous
rivals in this group," said Trapattoni.
Italy could have opened the scoring in the eighth minute
when Stefano Fiore set up Marco Delvecchio, but the Roma striker
shot weakly at Georgia 'keeper David Gvaramadze.
But it was clear from the start that unlike Saturday's win
over Romania, Italy was up against determined and dangerous
opponents.
Giorgi Nemsadze forced a good save from Toldo in the 12th
minute and then Archil Arveladze cut in from the left and went
close with a low drive which hit the side-netting.
STRUGGLED
Italy struggled to gain control in a midfield dominated by
the energetic and incisive work of Temuri Ketsbaia, but Del
Piero, recalled in place of influenza victim Filippo Inzaghi,
brought Gvaramadze to full stretch with a right-foot shot in the
18th minute.
The best effort of an entertaining first half came a minute
later when Ketsbaia burst out of midfield, raced into the
Italian penalty area and unleashed a fierce drive which Toldo
superbly parried.
Two minutes after the break Italy had the lead when
Francesco Totti was judged to have been tripped in the area by
Alexander Rekhviashvili and Del Piero coolly converted the
penalty.
Trapattoni promptly replaced striker Delvecchio with the
battling midfielder Gennaro Gattuso and the extra man in the
center of the field succeeded in reducing the influence of
Ketsbaia.
But Georgia coach David Kipiani's introduction of Gocha
Jamarauli and Giorgi Demetradze gave his side some fresh impetus
and Italy was on the back foot again.
Georgia went close to an equalizer 10 minutes from the end
when Toldo failed to hold a stinging long range effort from
substitute Jamarauli, but the ball was scrambled clear by
Alessandro Nesta.
Italy made sure of the points two minutes from the end when
Del Piero went down as he rounded Gvaramadze, and despite
protests from the Georgian defenders, the Juventus striker rose
to slot home the spot kick.
"It went well for Del Piero tonight, but above all this was a
victory that showed the need for collective hard work and
determination even when things are not going so well," said
Trapattoni.
Italy leads group eight with seven points from its three games but playmaker Totti, booked in the second half, will be suspended for the trip to Romania on March 24.
