Italy verge on early exit
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The Italians hopes of qualifying are now hanging by a thread after a 1-1 draw with Romania.
It was goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon who keeps their hopes of progressing to knockout stages alive thanks to his late penalty save.
They would already have been out of Euro 2008 if Buffon failed to make the miraculous late save from Adrian Mutu's penalty.
The result means a win for Romania in their last match against Netherlands will take them through.
Meanwhile the Azzurri need to beat France, and pray that the Dutch will help them as well.
Mutu put Romania ahead 10 minutes into the second half when he hammered a half-volley into Buffon's net after a misjudged back header from Gianluca Zambrotta.
But it was 1-1 a minute later as Christian Panucci poked the ball in following a header from Giorgio Chiellini.
With 10 minutes remaining the Romanians were given a golden opportunity to send Italy home when Panucci was adjudged had fouled Daniel Niculae inside the penalty area.
Fortunate for Italy, they had one of the best keepers in the world on Buffon, and the Juventus man dived to his left to stop Mutu's penalty, with an incredible combination of his hand and boot.
Italy came into this game with the pressure was firmly on his side after their defeat to Netherlands in their opening match, while Romania had shown they are no fools by holding France to a 0-0 draw.
The result leaves Group C wide open as Italy joint-bottom of the group on one point, now must beat France in their final group match to qualify.
Italy: 1-Gianluigi Buffon; 19-Gianluca Zambrotta, 4-Giorgio Chiellini, 2-Christian Panucci, 3-Fabio Grosso; 10-Daniele De Rossi, 21-Andrea Pirlo, 20-Simone Perrotta (18-Antonio Cassano 57); 16-Mauro Camoranesi (13-Massimo Ambrosini 85), 7-Alessandro Del Piero (15-Fabio Quagliarella 77); 9-Luca Toni
Romania: 1-Bogdan Lobont; 2-Cosmin Contra, 15-Dorin Goian, 4-Gabriel Tamaş, 3-Răzvan Raţ; 5-Cristian Chivu, 8-Paul Codrea, 6-Mirel Rădoi (20-Nicolae Dică 25), 7-Florentin Petre (16-Bănel Nicoliţă 59); 10-Adrian Mutu (11-Răzvan Cocis 88), 21-Daniel Niculae
Referee: Tom Henning Ovrebo (Norway)
Statistics:
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It was goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon who keeps their hopes of progressing to knockout stages alive thanks to his late penalty save.
They would already have been out of Euro 2008 if Buffon failed to make the miraculous late save from Adrian Mutu's penalty.
The result means a win for Romania in their last match against Netherlands will take them through.
Meanwhile the Azzurri need to beat France, and pray that the Dutch will help them as well.
Mutu put Romania ahead 10 minutes into the second half when he hammered a half-volley into Buffon's net after a misjudged back header from Gianluca Zambrotta.
But it was 1-1 a minute later as Christian Panucci poked the ball in following a header from Giorgio Chiellini.
With 10 minutes remaining the Romanians were given a golden opportunity to send Italy home when Panucci was adjudged had fouled Daniel Niculae inside the penalty area.
Fortunate for Italy, they had one of the best keepers in the world on Buffon, and the Juventus man dived to his left to stop Mutu's penalty, with an incredible combination of his hand and boot.
Italy came into this game with the pressure was firmly on his side after their defeat to Netherlands in their opening match, while Romania had shown they are no fools by holding France to a 0-0 draw.
The result leaves Group C wide open as Italy joint-bottom of the group on one point, now must beat France in their final group match to qualify.
| Italy |  | 1 - 1 |  | Romania |
| Christian Panucci 56 | Adrian Mutu 55 |
Italy: 1-Gianluigi Buffon; 19-Gianluca Zambrotta, 4-Giorgio Chiellini, 2-Christian Panucci, 3-Fabio Grosso; 10-Daniele De Rossi, 21-Andrea Pirlo, 20-Simone Perrotta (18-Antonio Cassano 57); 16-Mauro Camoranesi (13-Massimo Ambrosini 85), 7-Alessandro Del Piero (15-Fabio Quagliarella 77); 9-Luca Toni
Romania: 1-Bogdan Lobont; 2-Cosmin Contra, 15-Dorin Goian, 4-Gabriel Tamaş, 3-Răzvan Raţ; 5-Cristian Chivu, 8-Paul Codrea, 6-Mirel Rădoi (20-Nicolae Dică 25), 7-Florentin Petre (16-Bănel Nicoliţă 59); 10-Adrian Mutu (11-Răzvan Cocis 88), 21-Daniel Niculae
Referee: Tom Henning Ovrebo (Norway)
Statistics:
| Shots on target : | 5 | - | 6 |
| Shots off target : | 8 | - | 7 |
| Ball possession (%) : | 53 | - | 47 |
| Corner kicks : | 12 | - | 5 |
| Offsides : | 6 | - | 4 |
| Fouls : | 12 | - | 19 |
| Yellow cards : | 2 | - | 3 |
| Red cards : | 0 | - | 0 |
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