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Vieri very good
Italy moves to quarterfinals with 1-0 win over Norway
Posted: Wednesday September 23, 1998 04:55 PM
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Vieri celebrates after sending Italy to the next round Stu Forster/Allsport |
ARSEILLE, France (CNN/SI)
- If Italy was
looking for a game to gauge its chances of winning the World Cup, then
Saturday's win over Norway will
likely suffice just fine. The Italians took care of the only team to
beat the World Champion Brazilians with
relative ease. The 1-0 second round victory over Norway, a team that had
been riding a 17-game unbeaten streak that included two wins over the
reigning World Cup champions, moved Italy into the quarterfinals. "We
have the merit to have defeated the team which had stunned the world
champions, the great Brazil," Maldini said. Christian Vieri scored
the game-winner, his tournament-high fifth goal, and the Italian defenders
choked Norway's dangerous high-ball attacks as the "Azzurri" earned a berth
in the quarterfinals. They will play either France or Paraguay at
St. Denis on Friday. The Norwegians had qualified for the second
round with a 2-1 upset over Brazil, and they also beat the Brazilians in an
exhibition match last year. Perhaps because he's faced such lofty
opposition, Norway coach Egil "Drillo" Olsen wasn't full of praise for the
Italians after the game. "I was not impressed by Italy," Olsen said.
"Our performance was too low today. We were unable to take advantage of the
good chances in the second part of the second half when Italy was visibly
tired. I'm disappointed as we had hoped to go farther in the tournament and
we had the opportunity today if we played at our limit." Vieri, who
groomed his soccer talent growing up in Australia, scored in the 18th
minute on a classic Italian counterattack. Luigi Di Biagio sent a long
through ball ahead to Vieri, who out-paced defender Dan Eggen and fought
off the defender's clutches to drive a right-footed shot past goalkeeper
Frode Grodas. The five goals for the 24-year-old Vieri, who had only
two goals in eight career appearances for Italy before the start of the
World Cup, moved him ahead of Argentina's
Gabriel Batistuta as the tournament's leading scorer. "I'm happy.
I'll try to keep on scoring in the next matches," said Vieri, who has
scored in all four of Italy's games. "It doesn't matter if it's France or
Paraguay in the quarterfinals. For sure it will be as tough as today's
match." Norway, in the World Cup second round for the first time,
had built its success on a high-ball, set-piece attack. But Italian
defenders Fabio Cannavaro and Giuseppe Bergomi kept a body on tall striker
Tore Andre Flo all game, and goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca made a great
diving save on Flo's header in the 71st minute to preserve the lead.
Although the Norwegians had seven corner kicks, they managed only took five
shots on goal. After striker Alessandro Del Piero spoiled two clear
chances to make it 2-0, Italy struggled in the last part of the match with
defenders kicking the ball away to gain time and breath on an afternoon
when the temperature reached 30 degrees Celsius (86 F). Maldini
called the victory "well deserved against a tough team" and said that Italy
suffered "beyond the acceptable" in the last 25 minutes as the Norwegians
pressed steadily on the attack to achieve the equalizer. Norway's
best shot on goal in the first half came when Havard Flo's 20-meter drive
was pushed away by Pagliuca in the 14th minute. But Pagliuca saved
his best moment for the second half, diving to the right to gather Tore
Andre Flo's close-range header off a cross from Erik Mykland in the 71st
minute. Del Piero, still unable to play a full match after
recovering from a thigh strain, was replaced by Enrico Chiesa in the 77th
to the disappointment of Italian fans who had hoped to see veteran Roberto
Baggio play the final minutes. "It's my business, it was a tactical
choice," said Maldini, when asked why he had not fielded Baggio, who scored
two goals in the first round. Italy moved to 3-0 against Norway in
World Cup play, inclding a 1-0 victory in the 1994 World Cup in the United
States. Lineups Italy: Gianluca Pagliuca;
Alessandro Costacurta, Paolo Maldini, FabioCannavaro, Giuseppe Bergomi;
Francesco Moriero (Angelo Di Livio, 63rd), Demetrio Albertini (Gianluca
Pessotto, 72nd), Luigi Di Biagio, Dino Baggio; Christian Vieri, Alessandro
Del Piero (Enrico Chiesa, 77th). Norway: Frode Grodas;
Henning Berg, Dan Eggen, Ronny Johnsen, Stig Byornebye; Havard Flo (Ole
Solskjar, 72nd), Oyvind Leonhardsen (oar Strand, 13th; Stale Solbakken,
40th), Kjetil Rekdal, Erik Mykland, Vidar Riseth; Tore Andre Flo.
Referee: Bernd Heynemann, Germany.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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