Italy’s friendly with Republic of Ireland ended goalless but was marred by a broken tibia suffered by Riccardo Montolivo.
Italy’s friendly with Republic of Ireland ended goalless but was marred by a broken tibia suffered by Riccardo Montolivo.
The Milan midfielder had to be stretchered off after less than 10 minutes of the match at Craven Cottage, with Azzurri players visibly fearing the worst. Their concerns were proven correct as official confirmation came through after the game that the 29-year-old will miss the upcoming World Cup in Brazil.
As for the action, the match finished 0-0 but the result seems very much of secondary importance owing to the misfortune of Montolivo.
Cesare Prandelli’s team had a great chance to open the scoring after three minutes. Ciro Immobile was left completely unmarked by some generous Irish defending, but the Torino forward was unable to control Marco Veratti’s excellent pass in time, allowing Irish keeper David Forde to pounce on the loose ball before the 24-year-old could get a shot away.
Two minutes later, Forde was again called into action as Claudio Marchisio shot from distance. The Millwall man again proved up to the task, tipping the midfielder’s effort away for a corner.
Prandelli was dealt the cruel injury blow soon afterwards when Montolivo went down following a clumsy challenge by Alex Pearce. As he received lengthy treatment, the Rossoneri man was seen mouthing to teammates ‘Mi sono rotto,’ Italian for ‘I’ve broken it.’ Alberto Aquilani then came on in his place as Montolivo was rushed to hospital.
The match resumed and Ireland’s first attempt of note soon followed. Anthony Pilkington’s long range free kick was on target but it was saved easily enough by stand-in Azzurri goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu. At the other end, debutant Matteo Darmian fired wide following an excellent burst forward.
Martin O’Neill’s side were getting on top though and for the next 15 minutes they dominated territorially. The Azzurri were forced to defend a series of free-kicks and corners and on 35 minutes Shane Long’s powerful header was well kept out by Sirigu.
Italy, visibly shaken and understandably playing within themselves following Montolivo’s injury, then lost Aquilani himself after he took a blow to the head. The Fiorentina midfielder was taken off to be replaced by Marco Parolo, though it seemed very much a precautionary measure as opposed to anything serious. He was also later taken to hospital.
On the pitch, the Azzurri continued to be on the back-foot but there was still time for Immobile to once again find himself through on goal before the interval. However, his control to let him down. It was in truth a difficult opportunity.
The second half began in similar fashion to the way the majority of the first half passed, with Sirigu saving excellently from Long after the Azzurri had slackly given away possession just three minutes after the restart. Pilkington also fired narrowly wide as the Irish resumed their superiority.
Against the run of play however, Prandelli’s men almost got themselves ahead. Parolo got in behind the Irish defence and squared the ball to Immobile, who tapped in but was correctly flagged offside by the linesman. It proved to be one of the striker’s final contributions of the evening, for he was taken off on 57 minutes to be replaced by Parma’s Antonio Cassano. Daniele De Rossi also entered the fray soon after, coming on for Thiago Motta.
The Azzurri were by now finally starting to enjoy the better of proceedings and Marchisio again went close. Following good work by Giuseppe Rossi and Cassano, he scuffed his left-footed finish and it was an easy save for Forde.
It was a good night’s work on the whole for Rossi. Having missed out on almost the entire second half of Fiorentina’s season through a knee injury, the forward came through 70 minutes of this match unscathed as he continues his return to full fitness. He was eventually replaced by Alessio Cerci and will have done his chances of persuading Prandelli to include him in his final 23-man squad no harm at all.
Twelve minutes from time, the Republic should have been in front as they created the best chances of the evening. First, substitute Stephen Quinn hit the bar when all alone in the penalty area. He really ought to have scored. Then, from the loose ball, Aiden McGeady had two attempts himself but both were well kept out by the impressive Paris Saint Germain shot-stopper Sirigu.
The final stages passed with no more serious chances created on what could prove to be a costly evening for the Azzurri.
Italy 0 – 0 Republic of Ireland
Italy: Sirigu; Darmian (Abate 88), Paletta, Bonucci, De Sciglio; Veratti, Motta (De Rossi 62), Marchisio, Montolivo (Aquilani 16) (Parolo 38); Rossi (Cerci 71), Immobile (Cassano 57)
Republic of Ireland: Forde; Coleman, O’Shea, Pearce, Ward; McGeady, Hoolahan (Quinn 67), Meyler (Green 85), Pilkington (McClean 59), Hendrick; Long (Cox 73)
Referee: Oliver