Republic of Ireland versus Italy – International friendly: First half review
Ireland fielded a relatively weak team in their friendly encounter against Italy as Giovanni Trapattoni decided to release John O’Shea, Shay Given, Robbie Keane and Keith Fahey after Ireland’s latest EURO 2012 qualification encounter
on the past weekend. Ireland used David Forde as their first choice goalkeeper against Italy.
Their Italian manager used his expertise and knowledge of the Italian game to select Ireland’s back line which included Stephen Ward, Sean St. Ledger, Darren O’Dea and Paul Mc Shane. In midfield the home side deployed the likes
of Stephen Hunt, Kevin Foley, Keith Andrews and Seamus Coleman. Up front, Shane Long and Andrew Keogh played as Ireland’s two front-men.
Alternatively, Italy used a 4-4-2 system against the Republic of Ireland. The 2006 World Cup winners opted to select Emiliano Viviano as their shot stopper. Ahead of the Bologna goalkeeper, Domenico Criscito, Alessandro Gamberini,
Giorgio Chiellini and Mattia Cassani made up Italy’s back line. In midfield, Cesare Prandelli selected Antonio Nocerino as his team’s main defensive midfielder. Nocerino was supported in central midfield by Andrea Pirlo, Riccardo Montolivo and Claudio Marchisio.
Up front, Giuseppe Rossi lined up alongside Giampaolo Pazzini.
In the 3rd minute, Ireland’s striker Shane Long was sent clean through on goal courtesy of a deft flick on header by Keogh but the linesman on the far side raised his flag to signal that the Irish international was in
an offside position when the ball was played to him. In the 6th minute, Cassini tried to play in Pazzini down the right hand side of Ireland’s defence but the defender’s pass was too forcefully hit and thus Forde rushed out of his goal to claim
the ball inside his penalty area.
In the 11th minute Montolivo tried his luck on Ireland’s goal but his effort was charged down by Sean St Ledger. However, Criscito collected the rebound and whipped in a cross towards Rossi inside the Irish penalty area
but Stephen Ward rose above the former Manchester United striker to head the ball away. In the 13th minute, Cassani was involved in the thick of the action once again. The Italian full back played the ball towards Nocerino. Luckily for Ireland,
the Italian midfielder was wayward with his control of the ball which allowed Forde to come out and gather the ball once more.
In the 23rd minute, Stephen Hunt became the first player to get booked in the friendly encounter as he brought down Andrea Pirlo near the half-way line. In the 31st minute Keith Andrews followed his team-mate
into the referee’s book after he protested vehemently against a free kick that was awarded to Italy by the match official. It wasn’t long before Ireland scored their first goal of the match thanks to some brilliant work by Andrews.
The Irish midfielder benefitted from Stephen Hunt’s lay-off via a free kick as he thumped the ball past Viviano inside the Italian goal. With the score line at one nil, Italians were dealt a major shock as the goal came completely
against the run of play. Nonetheless, the first half eventually came to a close with the score line at one nil.