2002 FIFA World Cup (tm) Finals - Results & Fixtures - Italy vs Croatia

8 Jun 2002


Italy	1 - 2	Croatia
	(HT: 0 - 0)

Game Details
Venue Ibaraki Kashima Stadium	Attendance 36472
Referee Graham Poll (ENG) Assistant Referees Philip Sharp (ENG) Jens Larsen (DEN)

Game Events
#	Date	Player	Event	Period	Mins	H/A
1	8 Jun 2002	Alessandro Nesta	Player Out	First Half	24	H
2	8 Jun 2002	Marco Materazzi	Substitute In	First Half	24	H
3	8 Jun 2002	Robert Kovac	Yellow Card	First Half	39	A
4	8 Jun 2002	Christian Vieri	Yellow Card	Second Half	6	H
5	8 Jun 2002	Christian Vieri	Goal	Second Half	10	H
6	8 Jun 2002	Davor Vugrinec	Player Out	Second Half	12	A
7	8 Jun 2002	Ivica Olic	Substitute In	Second Half	12	A
8	8 Jun 2002	Zvonimir Soldo	Player Out	Second Half	17	A
9	8 Jun 2002	Jurica Vranjes	Substitute In	Second Half	17	A
10	8 Jun 2002	Ivica Olic	Goal	Second Half	28	A
11	8 Jun 2002	Milan Rapaic	Goal	Second Half	31	A
12	8 Jun 2002	Milan Rapaic	Player Out	Second Half	34	A
13	8 Jun 2002	Dario Simic	Substitute In	Second Half	34	A
14	8 Jun 2002	Cristiano Doni	Player Out	Second Half	34	H
15	8 Jun 2002	Filippo Inzaghi	Substitute In	Second Half	34	H

Match report

A controversial disallowed goal in injury time rocked Italy's World Cup campaign after they crashed to 2-1 to unfancied Croatia in another upset. Substitute Marco Materazzi's 60-yard punt upfield eluded everyone, including Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa and with the Italians already celebrating snatching a point, the cheers turned to disbelief as it was ruled out for striker Filippo Inzaghi impeding a Croatian defender. It left the Croatians in with a real chance of qualifying for the second round but much still depends on the outcome of Mexico's second Group G game, against Ecuador on Sunday.
Croatia snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with two goals in three minutes after trailing to a 55th-minute Christian Vieri goal, his third of the tournament. First substitute Ivica Olic and then Milan Rapaic struck to produce yet another turn up for the books.
Croatian coach Mirko Jozic was full of praise for his players after reshuffling his line-up and changing tactics after the defeat by Mexico.
"It was a different team, I can't explain the mental block they had against Mexico when they were at full strength.
"We knew we had to play very hard football against the Italians and I'm very glad they played as I decided they should."
He said he thought the key to victory was not giving up when they went a goal behind. "I cannot single one out because the team played as a whole, they were real heroes, they were dying for each other out there."
It was only Croatia's second appearance in the finals, having finished third in France four years ago, and they had been written off as a spent force after their opening Group G defeat by Mexico. Vieri took his tally for the tournament to three, after his two against Ecuador, when he struck in the 55th minute with a text book header and continued his extraordinary record in the World Cup, making it his eighth goal in seven games. The Italians had already suffered a serious setback when they had to reshuffle their defence after just 24 minutes when Alessandro Nesta hobbled off with an ankle injury to be replaced by Inter Milan centre back Matterazzi. After a forgettable first half punctuated by errors, free kicks and few clear-cut chances, most of which fell to Croatia, Vieri had the ball in the net and got his name into the book for protesting too vociferously after the effort was ruled offside, but it looked a close call. He finally broke the deadlock with a looping header just below the bar and into the corner from Cristiano Doni's cross from the right in the 55th minute. Vieri had a chance to double the lead on 70 minutes but fired over and it proved a costly miss for three minutes later substitute Olic left it all square as he slipped between Fabio Cannavaro and Materazzi, both rooted to the spot, to slide home Robert Jarni's cross. Then three minutes later, Rapaic got under a loose ball and lobbed it over the heads of the Italian defence to put Croatia ahead in a game they were expected to lose. They now have a serious chance of going through to the second round. Francesco Totti had a chance to level shortly before the end with a perfectly hit free kick which hit the post with goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa stranded and watched it roll agonisingly across the face of the goal and away to safety. Then came the moment of heartbreak as they had the ball in the net only for Inzaghi to be penalised.

(courtesy of dailysoccer)




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Page created by Christakis Ioannou on 8 June 2002 22:45:02.