|
Marcello Lippi's Italy side is closer to the 2006 World Cup after earning a point in Norway, though there are injuries for two Inter stars.
Coach Lippi took a brave decision when opting to leave out Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero, but he lost Alberto Gilardino to injury, Gennaro Gattuso to suspension and Alessandro Nesta was given compassionate leave.
This forged a new striking partnership between Antonio Cassano and Christian Vieri, while Palermo's Fabio Grosso took the left-back role, pushing Gianluca Zambrotta further up the field. Former Roma hitman John Carew lined up for Norway in the driving rain in Oslo as first took on second in qualifying Group 5.
An early defensive error went unpunished thanks to a tight offside flag, then at the other end the Norwegian goalkeeper rushed off his line to close down Mauro German Camoranesi as he latched on to Vieri's through ball.
The first real danger came after six minutes, as Carew was allowed a free header on John Arne Riise's cross which dipped on to the roof of the net.
The Scandinavians were pushing hard in the early stages and Buffon ran out to kick clear from Iversen, then a Gamst-Pedersen strike was deflected out for a corner kick.
A scuffle broke out at the 10th minute when Buffon clattered into Gamst-Pedersen as he went to pluck a cross out of the air. The Juventus goalkeeper fell heavily on to his back and seemed to believe it was a very late foul, but the situation was quickly brought under control.
Vieri's ambitious long-range effort was smothered, but a Fabio Cannavaro intervention proved decisive on Iversen. Gamst-Pedersen hacked down Camoranesi with an extremely late two-footed challenge as the tension rose in Oslo, but there was no yellow card.
Vieri failed to make the most of a defensive error that had left him clear on goal, as he hesitated and tried to dribble round the last man. Cassano's first real move came after 24 minutes, but after some great build-up his cross for Vieri was too long.
Liverpool midfielder Riise was booked for a crunching challenge on Camoranesi as the Italo-Argentine was running towards the box. The resulting free kick was scuffed over the bar by Grosso.
There was a fine team move just before the break, as Vieri and Cassano exchanged backheels, but Camoranesi's final strike was deflected out for a corner.
Moments later, Riise and Haestad drilled powerful shots just wide of the near post on the counter-attack. A weak Cassano effort was easily gathered, but the Roma starlet's pass then failed to reach Vieri through a sea of legs.
Norway started the second half with a bang, as Carew's angled drive whistled past the far post within 20 seconds of the opening whistle.
Former Roma flop Carew was again dangerous soon after, as his rising shot went close from a tight angle.
Yet Vieri's strike was even more impressive, as he took advantage of a defensive error on Cassano's intelligent flick and a dipping finish from just inside the box was inches over the bar.
There was bad news when Vieri pulled up with a suspected thigh strain on 55 minutes, which will probably rule him out of Inter's Coppa Italia Final against Roma. He made way for Palermo centre-forward Luca Toni.
Camoranesi was brought down by Gamst-Pedersen on the edge of the box after he had tricked his way past two Norwegian defenders and Andrea Pirlo's free kick was plucked out of the air.
The Scandinavians were rather more accurate at the other end, as a set-piece was touched on for Carew's curling effort and Buffon was at full stretch to beat it away.
Lippi made a tactical substitution when replacing the disappointing Cassano with Udinese striker Vincenzo Iaquinta. He combined with Toni on the counter-attack only for the final ball to be wasteful.
Riise thumped a free kick from 33 metres that was smothered with some difficulty by Buffon, as chances were increasingly created only from set-pieces.
Another Inter player pulled up with a thigh problem, as Marco Materazzi limped off to be replaced by Sampdoria's Aimo Diana, pushing Zambrotta back into a defensive role.
Italy had a great chance with 10 minutes remaining, as Toni sprung the offside trap on Pirlo's through ball and his relatively central finish was controlled by Myhre.
Riise blasted another hopeful effort from the edge of the box, but neither goalkeeper really had a tough save to make.
Deep into stoppages, Riise's brave diving header prevented Iaquinta from getting on the end of a promising cross from six yards.
|
