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Only the crossbar prevented Pippo Inzaghi giving Italy the victory, as an uninspiring France grabbed a 0-0 draw at San Siro. The Azzurri have not beaten Les Bleus in 90 minutes since the 1978 World Cup.
It was the crunch match of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, as Italy needed a victory to leapfrog France and Scotland at the top of Group B. Luca Toni and Marco Materazzi were injured, so Pippo Inzaghi and Andrea Barzagli were given the starting roles with Daniele De Rossi protecting the defence. France boss Raymond Domenech was in the stands after receiving a touchline ban for falsely accusing the Azzurri of fixing an Under-21 match in 1999. Patrick Vieira was the only Serie A based player in the Bleus line-up, much to Inter's chagrin, as he was still recovering from injury.
San Siro was packed out and in moving scenes before kick-off the giant screens and speakers played a tribute to Luciano Pavarotti, the tenor who died this week. The tension was sky high after Domenech and Lassana Diarra accused Italy of being "a nation of provokers and cheats." Fabio Cannavaro pleaded for the fans not to jeer the French national anthem, but it was barely audible over the boos and whistles.
Claude Makelele of Chelsea was first into the book for elbowing Del Piero and within seven minutes there was tension between tough tacklers Vieira and Gattuso. The first real chance was for Italy on 14 minutes, as an Andrea Pirlo corner kick found a sliding Fabio Cannavaro at the back post, Michel Landreau forced to save with his feet.
Nicolas Anelka scuffed his shot well wide from outside the area set up by Franck Ribery, then Camoranesi had another header from a corner kick cleared wide. Italy were visibly tense in the opening phases and defended too deep, allowing France to pass the ball around comfortably when in possession and having nobody in support when the Azzurri broke forward.
Del Piero wasted a great chance by hesitating before the pass to Inzaghi and allowing Vieira to tackle him on the edge of the area. Gattuso was booked for his challenge on Makelele and will be suspended for Wednesday's trip to Ukraine. The Milan midfielder tried to make up for it immediately with a strike from distance charged down.
On 33 minutes Del Piero and Camoranesi combined for the Juventus captain's low angled drive towards the near post held by Landreau. Seconds later Italy thumped the crossbar with an Inzaghi lob as he was falling at the byline.
The home side was dominating at this stage, but France had a good opportunity from a throw-in as Ribery cut in and swung off target from the edge of the box.
Gianluigi Buffon performed a solid save to pluck Florent Malouda's rising strike out of the top corner of the net. Oddo fell heavily on to his back when challenging Anelka on the stroke of half-time.
After the restart Barzagli went up for a corner and his header was well saved. Moments later a stinging missile from Camoranesi stung Landreau's gloves, then Inzaghi couldn't quite turn in Gianluca Zambrotta's cross.
Anelka went into the box on the counter and Buffon rushed forward to smother the finish. Cannavaro read the game brilliantly to intercept Ribery's cutback for Henry 10 yards from goal. The former Arsenal striker was extremely quiet and his first contribution was a booking for a foul on Cannavaro.
Roberto Donadoni's first substitution was Simone Perrotta for Camoranesi. Pirlo set up Del Piero unmarked on the edge of the area, but once again he hesitated and the French players crowded around him. The more attacking Italy became, the more France made it clear they were content with a draw and slowed down the tempo.
Cristiano Lucarelli took over from Inzaghi to give the Azzurri some more height and weight upfront that would have been the tactical idea if Toni had recovered. Barzagli closed down Henry with a good challenge, while Makelele's hopeful shot was high and wide.
On 76 minutes Escude' required a crucial clearance to stop Lucarelli tapping in Oddo's sweeping cross from the right. Henry wasted a counter-attack by hitting a weak effort straight at Buffon, although Cannavaro deserved credit for shepherding the Barcelona star into a corner.
As feared, the Azzurri ran out of steam towards the end because their season started later than expected. Buffon was overtaken by an Anelka header, but Cannavaro scissor-kicked the loose ball away from the danger zone. Il Capitano intercepted another dangerous crossfield ball towards Henry.
With barely 10 minutes to go, Antonio Di Natale replaced Del Piero to bring fresh legs to the attack. De Rossi was booked for bringing down Makelele, but was not at risk of a ban. Assistant manager Pierre Mankowski did not make his first substitution until the final moments, when Ribery made way for Toulalan.
In the closing minutes a chaotic attacking move was cleared with some difficulty by France with Gattuso, Pirlo and Lucarelli closed down. Zambrotta earned a corner that Pirlo took short for Zambrotta, but the former Juventus full-back slipped at the crucial moment.
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