Slovakia 1 Italy 0

NEW ZEALAND coach Ricki Herbert was ecstatic last night after world champions Italy were saved from humiliation against his team of minnows only by a controversial penalty.

Italy 1 New Zealand 1

DEFENDING champions Italy had to come from behind to salvage a draw in their World Cup Group F opener against Paraguay in Cape Town last night.

FULHAM’S hopes of a fairytale place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League were left hanging by a thread last night as European heavyweights Juventus outclassed Roy Hodgson’s side at the Stadio Olimpico.

Juventus 3 Fulham 1

Juventus have suffered a blow with the news striker Vincenzo Iaquinta will have to undergo knee surgery.

Republic of Ireland 2 Italy 2

Juventus 1 Bordeaux 1

ITALY made their reservations for the World Cup finals in South Africa last night after a dramatically improved performance against Bulgaria in Turin.

Italy 2 Bulgaria 0

Andrea Pirlo has kept his place in the team for Italy's World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria tonight.

“AN OWN-GOAL would be fine,” joked Marcello Lippi yesterday, but behind the smiles, there is some anxiety ahead of their biggest match so far in World Cup Group 8.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi has called tomorrow's World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria the "most important" game since his return to the helm of the Azzurri.

MOHAMED HOMOS scored the only goal as Egypt claimed a memorable Confederations Cup victory over Italy in Johannesburg last night.

Italy 1 Republic of Ireland 1

Montenegro 0 Italy 2

ITALY and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has said his team would be wrong to underestimate Montenegro and focus on the top-of-the-group showdown against Ireland next week.

Guus Hiddink has warned Europe’s top defenders that they will will have to be at their very best to contain a rampant Didier Drogba.

Juventus 2 Chelsea 2 (Chelsea win 3-2 on agg)

Chelsea tonight make one change from the side that beat Aston Villa in the Premier League last Saturday – Ashley Cole has replaced Paulo Ferreira at left-back.

WORLD champions Italy shared the honours with Greece after a low-key encounter in Athens ended in a draw between the two European rivals.

REAL MADRID won their first Champions League away game for two years last night, although they had to ride their luck to do so at Zenit St Petersburg in Group H.

Vincenzo Iaquinta struck twice to help Juventus avoid an embarrassing defeat in a tricky away trip to underdogs BATE Borisov.

Christian Panucci insists Italy will prove why they are world champions when they run out at Hampden for their crunch Euro 2008 clash with Scotland this evening.

Newcastle 2 Juventus 0

Italy coach Marcello Lippi and his France counterpart Raymond Domenech both named unchanged teams for Sunday evening’s World Cup final in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi sprung no surprises when he named his team for the World Cup semi-final showdown against host nation Germany.

ITALIAN coach Marcello Lippi expects Daniele De Rossi to receive some harsh punishment for elbowing US forward Brian McBride in the face.

The United States earned a vital point as they battled to a 1-1 draw with Group E favourites Italy in a World Cup match with three red cards.

Italy 2 Ghana 0

Italy 2 Ghana 0

Tottenham will test Chelsea’s resolve to hang on to their fringe players by making a £6m (€8.8m) move for England left-back Wayne Bridge.

Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira was sent off as Juventus opened their Champions League campaign with a victory.

Udinese had a night to remember on Wednesday as a Vincenzo Iaquinta hat-trick gave them a 3-0 win over Panathinaikos in their first ever Champions League tie.

Tony Leen

Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr threw caution to the wind and named a strong attacking line-up in a bid to gain a confidence-boosting win ahead of next month’s vital World Cup qualifier with France.