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Christian Vieri threw a bottle at Giovanni Trapattoni, a gesture that marred Italy's safe passage to Euro 2004 with a 3-0 win over Azerbaijan.
Thanks to this result Italy go straight through to the tournament in Portugal, while Wales will enter the play-offs.
The absence of the injured Alessandro Del Piero, Marco Delvecchio and Christian Panucci forced a reshuffle. Azerbaijan were also in shock at the serious car crash that involved star striker Ismailov earlier this week.
Curiously, up until now Italy have never won a game in which Francesco Totti, Christian Vieri and Pippo Inzaghi started together. Nonetheless, confidence was high following a series of good results, including the 4-0 win over Wales that saw an Inzaghi hat-trick.
Vieri was the only star who failed to score in that San Siro encounter and had only recently made his return from an ankle injury suffered against Serbia&Montenegro.
He thought he had broken the deadlock within six minutes, but the linesman correctly disallowed for offside. The Inter striker then nodded wide of an open goal after a deflection on Inzaghi's effort.
Vieri eventually bagged the opener in a well-worked team move. Mauro Camoranesi threaded through for Cristiano Zanetti, who set up his Nerazzurri teammate for a strong finish.
Inzaghi has been on sparkling form for the Azzurri in recent weeks and netted his 20th goal soon after. The Milan man dived on to Massimo Oddo's floated cross for a precise header that slotted in at the far post.
It was one-way traffic as Giovanni Trapattoni's men moved the ball around easily. Vieri and Inzaghi saw more efforts charged down from six yards, while the Inter man was stopped for an incorrect offside ruling just before the break.
Gianluigi Buffon was never tested, but the goalkeeper entertained the fans with a dummy on Azerbaijan forward Aliyev.
There was a curious start to the second period, as the fans released smoke bombs to create a giant green, white and red cloud on one end of the field. However, the smoke spread out over the pitch and the restart had to be delayed for a few minutes.
Vieri saw his second goal of the game disallowed when tapping in the loose ball from Simone Perrotta's parried shot. Azerbaijan goalkeeper Kramarenko hurt his arm during that incident and was forced off. It was also Vieri's last move before being replaced by Marco Di Vaio.
There was controversy at that moment, as Vieri was clearly unhappy with the substitution. He went straight past the bench scratching his head, then turned and threw a water bottle back towards Coach Giovanni Trapattoni. The crowd at the Granillo did not take kindly to the gesture and booed the striker.
Vieri's replacement responded with his first goal in an Italy shirt. The Juventus striker ran on to a Totti pass and drilled in from an acute angle just ten minutes after taking to the field.
Di Vaio almost netted another monents later, as substitute goalkeeper Hasanzade tipped a magnificent Totti long ball off his foot.
Azerbaijan had their first shot on goal on 69 minutes, when Aliyev's volley was tipped over the bar. Then Buffon performed a simple save on Guliyev's free kick.
The Azzurri rather sat back in the final minutes and allowed the visitors to come forward, but the chances remained Italian and Totti's deflected effort bounced wide of the goal.
There was a final run-out for Calabria native Gennaro Gattuso and the home fans certainly appreciated his presence.
It still wasn't over, as in the dying minutes Inzaghi took his international tally to 21 goals, overtaking his hero Paolo Rossi. The Milan striker ran on to a sweeping Totti pass and toe-poked past the goalkeeper.
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