EURO 2008 (Gr C) ITALY 1 - ROMANIA 1

Italia 1-Romania 1

*L'Italia non riesce a centrare la prima vittoria a UEFA EURO 2008™ ma alla fine è la Romania a mordersi le mani per l'1-1 di Zurigo. Al Letzigrund, nella seconda giornata del gruppo C, la squadra di Victor Piţurcă passa in vantaggio nella ripresa con un gol di Adrian Mutu, ma gli Azzurri rispondono dopo un minuto con Christian Panucci. A dieci minuti dalla fine i romeni avrebbero la possibilità di conquistare l'intera posta in palio, ma Gianluigi Buffon respinge da campione un rigore dello stesso Mutu. Per passare, gli Azzurri dovranno necessariamente battere la Francia martedì prossimo e sperare in un risultato favorevole in Olanda-Romania.

*Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon superbly saved Adrian Mutu's penalty with nine minutes remaining to keep the world champions' UEFA EURO 2008™ hopes alive as the Azzurri and Romania battled out a breathless draw in Zurich.
Buffon dived to his left to block the ACF Fiorentina striker's stinging drive with his arm and foot after Christian Panucci had held back Daniel Niculae in the area. Defeat would have left Italian ambitions on a knife-edge but in a free-flowing match they delivered a perfect response to Mutu's 55th-minute opener as Panucci levelled a minute later. It salvaged a crucial point, which kept Italy in Group C contention before their reprise of the FIFA World Cup final against France on Thursday when Romania play the Netherlands.
Italy coach Roberto Donadoni made five changes to the side that lost to the Netherlands as he looked to rescue their campaign. Victor Piţurcă had more reason to be satisfied after a goalless draw with France, but still freshened up his midfield, with Florentin Petre and Paul Codrea coming in -- the latter bringing experience of Italian football with AC Siena. Italy's reshuffled back line was tested in the first minute when Mutu nodded over and in an open game it was immediately clear that Romania were willing to commit more men forward than they had against France. Alessandro Del Piero made his first start since September and Italy's captain almost had an early impact when his header was deflected wide.
Romania then created three excellent chances in the space of four minutes. Buffon saved brilliantly from Mutu, who had broken free down the left, then stretched to keep out a Gabriel Tamaş free-kick. The goalkeeper was beaten, however, when Cristian Chivu's long-range free-kick deflected off Panucci, but the ball bounced back off the post. Piţurcă's team were showing all the invention they had concealed against France and their coach, sensing the momentum was going their way, chose to withdraw the injured Mirel Rădoi for the forward-thinking Nicolae Dică on 25 minutes. Attack was dominating defence, with Romania's slick passing inviting fear in the Italy rearguard while Luca Toni was winning everything in the air at the other end, Bogdan Lobonţ tipping one header over.
AC Milan pair Massimo Ambrosini and Gennaro Gattuso had made way for Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta in Italy's midfield, yet their replacements were finding little joy against Chivu, who cut off the supply line down the centre. Mutu also continued to catch the eye, drawing a smart stop from Buffon before pouncing on Gianluca Zambrotta's weak back-header to fire his side in front ten minutes into the second period. The Romania fans were still celebrating when Italy hit back, Giorgio Chiellini heading a corner back across goal for Panucci to knock in.
Lobonţ had to touch away De Rossi's diving header as Italy pushed for a second goal, although it was Romania who had the best opportunity to win a breathtaking contest. Panucci was adjudged to have restricted Niculae with his arms in the area, allowing Mutu the chance to snatch what would have been a memorable victory. The Azzurri were staring defeat and possible elimination in the face but Buffon produced a dramatic diving save to his left to keep his team in the competition.

*Au cours d'un match riche en occasions, les Roumains ont confirmé leur valeur mais le champion du monde reste en course.

*Italiens Gianluigi Buffon hielt neun Minuten vor Schluss einen Elfmeter und verhinderte so das vorzeitige Aus.

*La azzurri mantiene sus opciones de meterse en cuartos gracias a un decisivo Buffon, que paró un penalti.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• italy
• roumania
• italien
• rumanien
• italie
• roumanie
• italia
• romania
• europei
• euro
• 2008
• highlits
• gol
• toni
• mutu
• penalty
• buffon

[cettoracetto]

italian and romania are 2 brothers country..this is not much but is sure..same culture, same language, same origins..with little differences..i love romania and many italians love romania too...i hope that romanain likes italy people,,and romania the same..VIVA ITALY AND VIVA ROMANIA

[dinaelenn]

c vai te a fanculo testa d cazzo!! ogni paese c'ha dei pregi e dei difetti, e se uno insiste solo sui difetti,sulle cose brutte del mio paese io faccio lo stesso col suo paese, e quindi se i rumeni x voi sono tutti zingari (siete dei gran ignoranti xke non sapete la differenza) allora x me( e non solo x me) gli italiani sono tt mafiosi fannulloni, e finti e leccaculo, davanti fate il sorriso e dietro...(buon viso a cattivo gioco)nn me le invento le cose dico quello ke vedo, zitto e abbozza:))))

[abogdan803]

GYPSY ARE NOT ROMANIANS.THEY CAME FORM INDIA/PAKISTAN MORE THAN 2000 YEARS AGO.THEY CAME IN PARTICULARY TO EASTERN EUROPE.IF U ITALIANS KNOW A BIT OF HISTORY AND NOT BE SO IGNORANT MAYBE THINGS WILL BE A BITT DIFFERENT. ITS SAD THAT ROMANIA AND ITALY FIGHT.IF U GO BACK IN THE HISTORY,WE ARE A PART FROM THE ROMAN EMPIRE!!!!READ THE HISTORY GUYS BEOFRE U CALL US GYPSIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zurghinho]

@cettoracetto da da de asta ne spuneti ca suntem tigani

[academico19]

Italia&Romania=Un Solo Grande Amore!!!Merda Zingari

[maoamgirl5775]

hahahahah this brings so many memories....my best friend and i weree sooooooooo ahppy over panucci's goal :D

[TheStiffmeister14]

@PersonOfBook no of course romanians dont speak italian but romanians have latin origins,not slavic. romanian language and italian language are quite close.

[alexandru749]

o viata mia italia stergene PULA !!!

[cristiviktor]

@PersonOfBook the language has it's origins in latin. so they're also a latin land

[PersonOfBook]

@cettoracetto same language? do romanians speak italian? i thought they were slavics!

[MickMar91]

romaniaaaa iam jucat in piciare italia scarsiii

[kevinoux1989]

buffon mutu