Ireland draw comfort from stalemate

Bulgaria 0 Italy 0

So one thing we now know for sure: assuming Bulgaria are still in contention when Ireland come calling in June, Giovanni Trapattoni’s men will be in for a very hot reception at the Vassil Levski stadium.

Fears in Sofia of a public show of disinterest in the weekend game against Italy proved unfounded: only half the tickets for the match might have been sold as late as Friday but, a full 45 minutes before the 9.15 kick off on Saturday night, the open bowl of the stadium – named after a 19th century revolutionary whose adopted surname means ‘lion’, hence the nom de geurre of the Bulgarian national team — was a packed, heaving and, yes, snarling cauldron of noise, excitement and no little tension.

A clear moonlit night helped ensure that the ground was full to its 43,000 capacity, apart from a buffer zone separating the locals from 500 or so Italian fans, some of whom stoked the already highly-charged atmosphere by giving the fascist salute during the playing of their own national anthem.

The bone-headed gesture did not go unnoticed across the other side of no-man’s land but, physically unable to get at the visiting tifosi, the Sofia ultras had to be content with a brief spell of fighting amongst themselves and pelting the riot police with fire-crackers and plastic bottles. Throw in shrill whistling, flares, fireworks, and a lusty rendition of the national anthem — during which flags and scarves were held aloft Kop-style all round the ground — and the overall effect, it has to be said, was pretty intimidating.

Not, mind you, that the Italian football team seemed to notice. You don’t get to be world champions without learning how to cope with all sorts of pressure, and this patched-up Azzurri side never once looked like cracking in the lion’s den.

On the other hand, with Alberto Gilardino as blunt a spearhead as the man who replaced him late on in the game — the still misfiring Luca Toni — the Italians never looked much like cracking open the Bulgarians either.

And with the home side favouring a damage limitation 4-5-1 from the off – a formation which left the sulking Dmitar Berbatov too often isolated upfront – this was a game which had 0-0 written all over it from the earliest stage.

As it turned out, the result seemed to satisfy both sides although, with a more potent strike force, Italy ‘s general superiority would surely have translated into serious punishment for an often hesitant Bulgarian defence and an especially suspect goalkeeper in Dimitar Ivankov.

The big story going into the game had been all about Italy ‘s injury woes and, in particular, the loss of the man generally regarded as the world’s best goalkeeper Gigi Buffon. Marco Amelia was the man chosen to try and fill Buffon’s gloves but, in all truth, so lacking in forward ambition were the Bulgarians that Italy might have gotten through the whole game more or less intact with no goalkeeper at all.

As it was, Amelia was only seriously tested for the first time in the 88th minute and, even then, Chavdar Yankov’s low drive was probably going outside the post before the ‘keeper, at full stretch, got a hand to the ball. Otherwise, the Italian was largely a spectator because, even on the odd occasion when Bulgaria threatened the visitors’ goal, the great Fabio Cannavaro was on hand to ensure that his temporary number one would not have to dirty his hands.

That much was clear as early as the 14th minute when, after the speedy Velizar Dimitrov had combined down the right with Stiliyan Petrov to set up Berbatov in what was probably Bulgaria’s most penetrating move of the night, Cannavaro simply stood much taller than he is to block the Manchester United man’s well-struck volley.

And that was about the best Bulgaria mustered going forward in the course of a game in which space and time were always in short supply.

Like Ireland under Trapattoni, Italy under Lippi defend from the front, always working hard to pressure the man and close down space.

Much to the frustration of, first, the fans and, later, the players themselves, this often meant that Bulgaria were forced to retreat from an advanced position all the way back to Ivankov which, given his evident discomfort with the ball at this feet, was the last thing the ‘keeper needed.

Meanwhile, Italy exerted something of a stranglehold in the middle of the park, where Gattuso combined with De Rossi in a classic double act, the former winning the ball for the latter to spray about with immaculate cool.

But even that good work came to nought in front of goal, with Gilardino guilty of an especially bad miss when, with only Ivankov to beat, he failed to get his head to Simone Pepe’s whipped free-kick after the Bulgarian offside trap had gone badly awry.

Giuseppe Rossi showed some neat touches when he came on as a 70th minute sub for Di Natale but, even then, Gilardino was unable to profit, failing to make the most of a wonderful turn and incisive pass from the Villareal tyro.

So what might Ireland have learned from a compelling if hardly classic night in Sofia? Certainly, that Italy are still the ones to beat in Group 8, even if they are a team in transition and it’s hard to make any kind of definitive assessment when so many potential starters are out through injury.

Yet, for all that, the Azzurri still had more than enough to dominate a game on Bulgarian soil if not on the scoreboard – something which should give Trap’s team plenty of encouragement when they welcome Berbatov and company to Dublin in March.