Italy handed England coach Roy Hodgson his first defeat with an edgy 4-2 penalty shootout. Italy missed the first shot, but then came ahead after England missed two consecutive targets. The teams had plenty of unrealized chances throughout game play as Italy dominated in ball possession (64 percent) and with 26 (20 on target) more attempts on goal than England’s 9 (four on target).
But before
the goalkeeper dual, the unsuccessful exchanges were still going into the 106th
minute when Theo Wolcott charged to the right in the box and sent looping cross
that Andy Caroll met in the left corner scathing woodwork.
Wayne Rooney
was off target with a superfluous bicycle kick in 90+3 time after connecting with
a headed pass from Andy Caroll who was substituted in on the 61st
minute. Minutes earlier, Antonio Nocerino took a pass deep in England’s
territory in the 89th minute but couldn’t negotiate the ball for a
steady shot.
The same
pattern took hold in the first half as both sides failed to deliver in several point
blank range opportunities. Daniele De Rossi hit the side post as early as the
third minute for Italy. Two minutes later, Glen Johnson faced Italian goalkeeper
Gianluigi Buffon in the box who made the stop look easy with a one-handed basketball
block shot.
England’s
Wayne Rooney found himself in front of Buffon in the 14th minute
with a diving header delivered by Glen Johnson that went wide. And in the 25th
minute Andrea Pirio found Mario Balotelli with a beautiful looping pass from
Italy’s half before John Terry slid in to tackle what would’ve been an easy
shot if left alone against Joe Hart.
Balotelli missed another chance in the 41st minute when
Antonio Cassano headed a pass that saw the forward misfire at point blank
range.
