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Italy v Ghana review
Diamonds and Pirlo
Italy kicked off their World Cup campaign with an entertaining and deserved 2-0 victory over Ghana. Susy Campanale reports from the Hanover opener |
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The Azzurri knew it was going to be a tough task to open their account against World Cup debutants Ghana, but they rode out periods of pressure – and some strong penalty shouts – to emerge 2-0 winners. Andrea Pirlo, who has struggled badly in the last few months for Milan, was Man of the Match after scoring with a screamer and setting up Vincenzo Iaquinta’s late strike.
“My son asked me to dedicate a goal to him, so I did,” beamed the Rossoneri playmaker who rifled in from the edge of the box after 40 minutes. “I’ve been training hard to be in the best shape for this World Cup and I think that work is paying off.”
Italy could’ve taken the lead much earlier, but the woodwork kept out both Alberto Gilardino’s deflected effort and a stunning Luca Toni half-volley that nearly snapped the crossbar. Gianluigi Buffon only really had one save to make from Chelsea star Michael Essien, but the African newcomers threatened with a solid midfield that included Udinese’s Sulley Ali Muntari and ex-Juventus man Stephen Appiah.
It was another familiar face to Serie A, Roma defender Samuel Kuffour, whose poor back-pass allowed Iaquinta to seal the result in the final minutes. “I’m so very happy, as the Coach has always believed in me. It’s my first goal for the Nazionale, so to do that in the World Cup is incredible,” stated the Udinese striker
Marcello Lippi surprised some with his choices for the game, leaving Alessandro Del Piero and Mauro Camoranesi on the bench in favour of Francesco Totti and Simone Perrotta. The Roma captain finally confirmed he has recovered from the ankle fracture suffered in February. “I’m happy with my performance, as this was my first real test after the injury and I think it went well. I had three or four quite hard challenges, but if I’m here, it’s because I consider my leg to be healed.”
Lippi insisted he had everything under control in Hanover for what was also his personal World Cup bow. “The match went exactly as we expected,” said the Coach. “We knew Ghana would have something more than us in midfield, but that we had other qualities that could make the difference over the 90 minutes. It was a dynamic, vibrant game and we hit the woodwork twice as well as scoring two goals. I think we can be more than satisfied. I had already decided two or three days earlier that I’d play Perrotta, as he’s been on fine form in training and I had Gennaro Gattuso and Gianluca Zambrotta’s injuries to contend with.”
The Juventus defender’s muscular problem caused some issues for Lippi, who admitted to one blight on this performance. “I had told Cristian Zaccardo to defend a little more and Fabio Grosso to push forward, but he was kept back by Ghana’s attacks and couldn’t come out as much as I would’ve liked.”
Ghana Coach Ratomir Dujkovic hailed the victors, despite Modena striker Gyan Asamoah having a penalty appeal rejected. “They were very good,” he said of the Azzurri. “All the scandals in Italy at the moment have not affected them. They deserved to win. With one group of players I’m satisfied, with another I am not.” Ex-Juve midfielder Appiah disagreed with his tactician. “I don’t think it was a deserved victory, as it was a balanced game. OK, so they had more chances, but in terms of play I didn’t see the Azzurri do better than us.”
STAR MAN – ANDREA PIRLO
Tipped by some before the game to start on the bench, Andrea Pirlo was Italy’s best player for the first hour. He controlled play, dictated the rhythm and, of course, netted the opener with a real beauty.
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| Match report |
| Ita - Gha 2-0 |
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