Jun 4, 2010
Italy beaten 2-1 in warmup
BRUSSELS - CARLOS Vela and Alberto Medina exposed a slow, ragged Italy defense to give Mexico a 2-1 victory over the World Cup-holder on Thursday in a major boost ahead of next week's opening match of the tournament. Vela took a high pass from Giovani Dos Santos in the center and without any serious challenge was able to line up a drive from 12m out that gave goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon no chance in the 16th minute.
Ten minutes from time substitute Medina beat Italy's offside trap, and from a tight right angle beat Buffon with a drive. Italy pulled one back in the 89th when defender Leonardo Bonucci scored from close range after Salvatore Bocchetti hit the post. In Italy's first warmup game for the World Cup, the Azzurri looked sluggish for long periods and were mostly running after the ball instead of dictating play before 30,000 mostly Italian fans at King Baudouin Stadium.
The Azzurri have been training at high altitude in the Italian Alps, and coach Marcello Lippi attributed the disappointing performance to a lack of fitness.
'We've been up in the mountains for 10 days. We arrived here this morning and we were up against a team in much better form than us - you can't analyse this game based on anything else,' Lippi said. 'The players told me their legs felt very heavy.'
The Azzurri's best chance came in the third minute when Vincenzo Iaquinta forced a great one-handed save from Mexico goalkeeper Oscar Perez off the crossbar. Lippi had attached a lot of importance to the game since Italy opens its Group F campaign on June 14 against Paraguay, which is expected to play much like Mexico. It bode ill. Fabio Cannavaro, 36 already, and the inexperienced Bonucci were often hesitant at the heart of the defense against the agile Vela and Javier Hernandez.
And up front, Italy's lone striker Alberto Gilardino only rarely forced the composed Mexicans into action. While it is the defending champion, Italy is widely considered too old and without any top new players to be a credible title contender. Mexico, meanwhile, is vying to advance from Group A where it faces France, Uruguay and host South Africa. -- AP
