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Alberto Gilardino and Simone Barone were on target and Italy hit the woodwork twice as they crush Russia 2-0 in a friendly.
Marcello Lippi experimented a trident attack for this match, though he was forced to do without the injured Antonio Cassano. Aimo Diana and Alessandro Nesta also pulled out with fitness problems, so Marco Materazzi stepped in to the four-man defence. The Coach admitted this was a similar line-up to the one that will face Scotland in next month's World Cup qualifier.
Before kick-off there was a ceremony in which Cagliari retired the Number 11 shirt once worn by legendary Italy star Gigi Riva. The Azzurri had intended to wear a white jersey as part of the anti-racism drive, but the referee said it would be too confusing with Russia already wearing black and white.
The first shot on goal came after 90 seconds, as Giuseppe Pancaro met Andrea Pirlo's free kick and Malafeev flew to palm it out with one hand.
Montella hit the back of the net soon after, but the goal was disallowed for a very debatable offside position when Christian Vieri ran on to Francesco Totti's chipped pass and cut across for the Roma man.
Moments later Gennaro Gattuso charged through the centre and put in a great pass for Vieri, who fired wide from nine yards.
The Roma connection was on show when Totti threaded through for Montella, who sprinted between two defenders and his angled drive was parried by Malafeev at full stretch.
Italy were dominating in the early stages and Vieri gathered Montella's pass inside the area with his back to goal, but Zhirkov did well to intercept as he tried to turn.
Russia had their first chance after 20 minutes when they took advantage of a defensive error and Daniele Bonera stuck out a foot to deflect Kerzakov's cutback just wide of the far post.
Montella was again lively and picked out by a long Pirlo pass from the halfway line, but the 'keeper narrowed the angle enough so that he fired on to the side-netting with his weaker right foot.
The visitors came out of their shell as the first half wore on and Fabio Cannavaro performed a crucial tackle on Sychev inside the area to clear the danger.
A delightful Totti backheel left the defence standing, but Vieri was offside and play was halted.
Italy could not have gone closer to breaking the deadlock than on 35 minutes. Totti passed out to Montella and his cross reached Vieri, but the Inter star's looping header slammed the woodwork.
The Azzurri were becoming increasingly frustrated, as five minutes later they rattled the frame of the goal again. This time it was a curling free kick from Andrea Pirlo that left the goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
Lippi made the Cagliari crowd's day in the second half by introducing both local heroes Mauro Esposito and Antonio Langella. It was an international debut for Langella, while Alberto Gilardino also came on to completely revolutionise the trident attack. Palermo's Simone Barone also replaced Daniele De Rossi.
The two Sardinians had an immediate impact. Within 55 seconds of his debut, Esposito had threaded through for Langella and a great save kept out his angled drive. Gilardino was then just unable to turn in the loose ball.
Esposito had his own effort blocked soon after, but Andrea Pirlo limped off with a knee injury to make way for Juve's Manuele Blasi.
The goal eventually came on 55 minutes with a splendid team move. Esposito floated in a pass for Gilardino, who took it round the goalkeeper and into the net from a very tight angle.
The Azzurri doubled their lead with another spectacular strike from a substitute. Midfielder Barone gathered a loose ball on the edge of the box and slammed it first time with the shot luckily going in off the inside of the upright. Malefeev didn't even move as the Palermo man rocketed in a great finish.
Gianluigi Buffon made his first save soon after, using his legs to block Sychev's well-taken strike.
Fiorentina full-back Giorgio Chiellini was the final substitution, stepping in for Milan veteran Giuseppe Pancaro.
Gattuso was having a fantastic game in midfield and even turned provider with a searching pass for Esposito, but the Cagliari star's lob was just a touch too long to make it 3-0.
Buffon was barely tested by solo efforts from Sychev and Karyaka, an incident in which the Russian substitute picked up an injury.
Langella was crowded out as he tried to make the most of a defensive error, while Sychev turned a late header over the bar from six yards as the Azzurri lost concentration at the back.
A fine tackle prevented Gilardino taking full advantage of Daniele Bonera's through ball and from the resulting corner kick there were appeals for a Bugayev handling offence.
Russia had their best chance in the final minute when Boyarintzev took Chiellini by surprise out wide on the right and turned an angled drive inches past the far post.
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