Tue Jun 17 16:41:07 2008

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Italy downs ten-man France to advance to quarterfinals

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Zurich, Switzerland (Sports Network) - Italy booked a spot in the quarterfinals on Tuesday by knocking off ten-man France 2-0, and getting some help from the Netherlands, who beat Romania 2-0.

Italy would have been out had Romania beaten the Dutch, but Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie each scored to help send Romania home, leaving Italy to claim second place.

The Dutch had already clinched the top spot and will meet either Sweden or Russia on Saturday, while Italy's win gives them a date with Group D winners Spain on Sunday.

French defender Eric Abidal was sent off in the 25th minute after he fouled Italy's Luca Toni inside the box, and Andrea Pirlo converted the subsequent penalty kick to put Italy up 1-0. The game was completely turned on its head at that point, and the Italians added a second goal in the 63rd minute through a deflected free kick from Daniele De Rossi.

The French went on the attack early but Italy nearly opened the scoring in the fifth minute with their first look at goal. A long ball from the back was poorly handled by the French defense, giving Toni a one-on-one with goalkeeper Gregory Coupet.

The Bayern Munich striker hit the ball from the top of the box and beat Coupet, but his shot rolled past the left post.

France then took a hit in midfield when Franck Ribery suffered a leg injury in the 10th minute after getting tangled up with Italy's Gianluca Zambrotta. He was taken off in favor of Samir Nasri, but Italy soon carved out another chance.

Christian Panucci - who scored Italy's lone goal entering the match - got forward once again and turned a header on target from eight yards, forcing a diving stop from Coupet.

The match then took a dramatic turn in the 25th minute when France went down a goal and was also reduced to 10 men.

Simone Perrotta floated a good ball over the top to Toni, who got in behind Abidal and brought the ball down. The Frenchman tried to recover but he caught Toni from behind, knocking the Italian striker to the ground and giving Italy a penalty kick.

Abidal was then shown a red card and Pirlo stepped to the spot. The AC Milan midfielder made no mistake with his kick, driving it high and to the keeper's right to put Italy up 1-0.

The Italians didn't sit on that lead, as expected, and De Rossi hammered a shot narrowly over the crossbar from 20 yards before Toni just missed scoring a top-notch goal with a back heel from eight yards.

France recovered a bit and began to put a few passes together despite being down a man, and Thierry Henry almost leveled the match in the 32nd minute when he got into the box on the right and slid a shot just inches past the far post.

Italy could have added a second goal right before halftime when De Rossi drew a free kick just outside the penalty area on the right and Fabio Grosso stepped forward to strike the kick. Grosso curled the ball brilliantly around the wall towards the far post, but Coupet got the slightest of touches on the ball, tipping it off the post.

The French continued to attack as Italy sat back and was content to defend. Karim Benzema fired a hard shot over the net shortly after the restart, and France was showing plenty of life in their effort to get back on level terms.

However, Italy put the game out of reach with a lucky break in the 63rd minute.

De Rossi lined up a free kick 35 yards from goal and decided to have a go. He drove a hard shot towards the net, but Henry stuck out his foot and redirected the ball past his own keeper, summing up the night for France.

Les Bleus showed some life in the 74th minute when Benzema was denied by a great diving save from Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, but they didn't have enough to seriously threaten the Azzurri.