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Italian sucker punch sinks brave Olyroos
= = MELBOURNE, Sept 13 (AFP) - A classic sucker punch earned Italy a 1-0 victory Wednesday in a Group A clash with hosts Australia in the men's Olympic football tournament two days before the Sydney Games are officially launched. An 81st-minute counter-attack goal from Andrea Pirlo after a mistake by Australian defender Hayden Foxe stunned a packed house of 93,252 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The Olyroos had taken the game to an Italian side packed with Serie A players including several that had featured in the senior "Azzurri" squad that finished runners-up to France in Euro 2000. After a disappointing first half the game became a compelling spectacle in the second period with Australia having more than their fair share of chances. But it was Italy's time-honoured knack for delivering a fatal blow on the break that decided the match. Pirlo - set up on a plate by substitute Massimo Margiotta after Foxe's blunder - almost fluffed it but his shot crept over the line after hitting the post with Jamaican referee Peter Prendergast correctly ruling it was a goal although Australia played on in the belief the line had not been breached. Pirlo was delighted with his winner, insisting: "It's an amazing emotion to play in front of such a big crowd. It was a good goal that I scored." Italian coach Marco Tardelli, a member of the legendary 1982 World Cup winning team, said: "I knew that the Australians were going to play hard. They were strong because they were playing on their own turf." His opposite number Raul Blanco said: "I am quite disappointed, one mistake at the back and we paid for it. We played very well but still disappointed." After a spectacular opening ceremony the game took a while to catch fire. Mark Viduka foraged gamely up front for the Olyroos but he was often ploughing a lone furrow and frequently crowded out by the Italian defence. And there were nervy moments in the home defence with the unnecessary sorties of Aussie goalkeeper Danny Milosevic frequently worrying his defence. Milosevic owed a debt of gratitude to Simon Colosimo for getting him out of jail after misjudging an Italian corner. Colosimo just managed to get his head to the ball to foil Gianni Comandini who would have had a simple opportunity to open the scoring. But Viduka finally got behind the Italian defence only to be foiled by goalkeeper Christian Abbiati who made a fine save but Prendergast ruled that Viduka was offside. Italy were employing their familiar spoiling tactics to great effect and both skipper Alessandro Grandoni and Marco Zanchi were cautioned in the first period, the latter for a blatant foul that halted a fine counterattack from Josip Skoko. But Colosimo again came to his side's rescue when he headed a freekick from Andrea Pirlo off the line and some sublime skills from Gianluca Zambrotta almost set up another Italian chance only for Stephen Laybutt to come to the rescue with a fine challenge. But in the closing moments of the first period Australia came agonisingly close with the best move so far. Stan Lazaridis' pinpoint cross was met with a superb header from Michael Curjica but Abbiati denied the vast crowd what they wanted with a brilliant save. Early in the second period Australia went close again. A corner came off Zanchi's head and with Abbiati committed to coming off his line there was an open goal but Viduka could not direct his shot. Skoko then curled a fine freekick just over the bar and from another dead ball scenario Foxe forced Abbiati into another save. Italy wore black armbands to commemorate the deaths of eight people last week when floods engulfed a campsite in Calabria. The game was coming to life and a trademark Italian counterattack saw Nicola Ventola foiled by a fine Milosevic save. Seconds later Aussie skipper Brett Emerton forced a fine save from Abbiati with a dipping long-range shot. Another magnificent Pirlo freekick rattled the Australian crossbar and then Emerton again came close with an angled shot that went just the wrong side of the near post. Massimo Ambrosini tested Milosevic again with another fine effort but Abbiati produced another spectacular stop from a Curcija header. But then came the sucker punch with Italy extracting maximum advantage from Foxe's blunder and Margiotta even spurned a chance to make it 2-0 - a scoreline that would have been a gross injustice to the Olyroos in contrast to the comprehensive 3-0 defeat suffered by their female counterparts the Matildas earlier in the day. Viduka looked on the bright side, saying: "Who'd have thought (ten years ago) that we'd get 90,000 to 100,000 people at the MCG for the Olympics.
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