Italy rediscover scoring touch to beat Slovakia

January 28, 1998
Soccernet

CATANIA, Italy -- Italy finally overcame their chronic goalscoring problems when they beat Slovakia 3-0 on Wednesday night in their first friendly since qualifying for this year's World Cup finals.

Marseille's Fabrizio Ravanelli broke the deadlock with a deflected goal three minutes after halftime for an Italian side which had managed just two goals in their previous four matches.

In-form Juventus forward Alessandro Del Piero added a second five minutes later after a mistake by Slovak defender Milan Timko and Chelsea's Roberto Di Matteo grabbed a third with a left foot shot just after the hour.

Inter Milan right winger Francesco Moriero and AS Roma midfielder Luigi Di Biagio both made promising debuts for Italy, whose poor scoring record in qualifying forced them in to the play-offs en route to the World Cup finals in France.

Wednesday's performance in front of 26,000 fans, was Italy's best of the season.

They had previously drawn 0-0 with Georgia and England, drawn 1-1with Russia in Moscow and then squeezed past the Russians 1-0 in Naples.

During the first half it appeared Cesare Maldini's side would again be frustrated by a Slovak team which missed out on the Finals at the expense of Yugoslavia and Spain. 

The Azzurri created numerous chances but, thwarted by a fine performance by Slovakia's Strasbourg-based goalkeeper Alexander Vencel, failed to convert them.

Ravanelli eventually put Italy ahead with his ninth international goal after Moriero's shot was parried by Vencel. The former Juventus and  Middlesbrough striker pounced on the rebound and his effort hit Timko's outstretched leg and looped over the keeper's head in to the net.

Five minutes later the blond defender's evening went from bad to worse as, when trying to cut out a Di Biagio through-ball, he knocked the ball away from his own keeper towards Del Piero, who stroked the ball in to the open net.

Moriero was the inspiration for Italy's third goal, surging down the right flank and crossing for Ravanelli. His header was blocked by Vencel but Di Matteo powered home the rebound to seal Italy's victory.

"It was a very satisfactory performance and a very good result against a good Slovak side," coach Maldini said afterwards. "Di Biagio's debut was particularly pleasing."

"It was a great match only even if it was only a friendly," Italian Football Federation president Luciano Nizzola said. "Di Biagio was a pillar in the centre of midfield and Moriero added speed to the attack."

Italy face Paraguay in their next scheduled friendly in April. They also plan at least two more matches in the run-up to the finals, where they will meet Austria, Chile and Cameroon in the first round.

Teams
                    
Italy: 1-Angelo Peruzzi; 2-Ciro Ferrara, 3-Paolo Maldini (13-Moreno Torricelli 64), 4-Dino Baggio (15-Sandro Cois 55), 5-Alessandro Nesta, 6-Alessandro Costacurta, 7-Angelo Di Livio, 8-Luigi Di Biagio, 9-Roberto Di Matteo, 10-Alessandro Del Piero (19-Enrico Chiesa 71), 11-Fabrizio Ravanelli (18-Filippo Inzaghi 65).

Slovakia: 1-Alexander Vencel (12-Miroslav Seman 68); 2-Ivan Kozak (14-Peter Dzurik 83), 3-Marek Spilar, 4-Miroslav Karhan, 5-Milan Timko, 6-Dusan Tittel, 7-Igor Balis, 8-Jozef Kozlej (15-Marek Ujlaky 51), 9-Tibor Jancula (16-Lubomir Luhovy 51), 10-Peter Dubovsky, 11-Lubomir Moravcik (18-Vladislav Zvara 68).

Scorers: Fabrizio Ravanelli 48, Alessandro Del Piero 53, Roberto Di Matteo 63

Attendance: 26,919
.