Lithuania 0-2 Italy Kaunas, 06/06/07
Quagliarella (31, 45)

Sampdoria striker Fabio Quagliarella scored two wonder goals on his full international debut to help Italy defeat Lithuania and retain the UFWC title. The 23-year-old had only made two substitute appearances prior to this start but, with Luca Toni injured and other Italian strikers misfiring, coach Roberto Donadoni gambled on playing him behind the vetran Filippo Inzaghi – and the gamble paid off.

Quagliarella struck first in the 31st minute, cutting in from the right wing and driving a superb 20-yard left-foot shot into the far corner of the net. His second strike came moments before half-time, this time a controlled right-foot shot from a similar distance that found the same far corner of the goal.

But if Quagliarella’s performance was eye-catching, the Italian side as a whole never looked like world champions. Despite dominating their opposition, they once again squandered several goalscoring opportunities. Lithuania had few chances, the best of which – a fierce shot from Marius Stankevicius – was held by Gianluigi Buffon.

Italy will need to improve for their next match – a UFWC/Euro double-header against France on 8 September.

Match Reports Italy, Lithuania

Faroe Islands 1-2 Italy Torshavn, 02/06/07
Inzaghi (12, 48), Jacobsen (77)

Undisputed Unofficial and Official World Champions Italy only narrowly defeated the Faroe Islands – fielding a side with only six full-time professionals – in this Euro 2008 Qualifier. The win moves Italy clear of France and Sweden in 8th place in the all-time UFWC rankings.

Veteran striker Filippo Inzaghi was the Azzurri hero, netting both Italian goals in a rain and wind-swept Torshavn. In for the injured Luca Toni, Inzaghi opened the scoring in the 13th minute, brilliantly controlling a long ball with his right foot, then poking it past the Faroes’ goalkeeper with his left. He added a second goal three minutes into the second half, rising at the far post to head home Aimo Diana’s cross.

Italy continued to dominate, but wasted a succession of chances to kill the game. And the lowly Faroes shocked the visitors in the 77th minute, when Rogvi Jacobsen rose to power a superb header past goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. The Italians were rattled and, with just seconds remaining, substitute Christian Holst almost hit an equaliser, only to be thwarted by a great save from Buffon.

Match Reports Faroe Islands, Italy

Italy 2-0 Scotland Bari, 28/03/07

Luca Toni (12, 70)

Italy are the undisputed official and unofficial football world champions! Two goals from man-of-the-match Luca Toni ended Scotland’s short but sweet tenure as UFWC title holders in this intriguing Euro Qualifier and FIFA/UFWC ‘unification match’.

38,000 fans, including 6,000 Scots, packed Bari’s Stadio San Nicola, and they saw Italy dominate the early stages. Near-misses from Marco Materazzi and Toni served as warnings to the Scots, and it was no great suprise when, in the 12th minute, Toni headed Massimo Oddo’s free kick past Craig Gordon. Italy could have been expected to run riot from that point, but Scotland immediately improved, putting together some nice passing moves, and creating a number of half-chances, the best of which fell to lone striker Kenny Miller. But Scotland failed to score, and Italy took advantage.

In the second half Hearts keeper Gordon kept his country in the game with a couple of brilliant saves from Antonio Di Natale. But Italy kept up the pressure, and were rewarded in the 70th minute when Toni headed home a Mauro Camoranesi cross. There was no way back for Scotland.

The result moved Italy to fourth spot in Euro Qualifying Group B, two points behind France, Scotland, and Ukraine, who top the group based on head-to-head results. Italy’s next match is a Euro qualifier against the Faroe Islands in June.

This is the third time Italy have held the title of ‘Undisputed Football World Champions’ – holding both the official World Cup and unofficial UFWC title simultaneously – more than any other nation. The Italians were the first side to win the undisputed title, back in 1939. Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and France have all been undisputed football world champions twice, and Uruguay and England have both held the honour once.

Disappointed members of the Tartan Army can seek some solace from the fact that their side remains the all-time Unofficial Football World Champions, having won some 61 more title matches than the Italians.

Italy: Buffon (Juventus), Oddo (Milan), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Materazzi (Internazionale), Zambrotta (Barcelona), Gattuso (Milan), De Rossi (Roma); Camoranesi (Juventus), Perrotta (Roma), Di Natale (Udinese), Toni (Fiorentina). Substitutes used: Del Piero (Juventus), Pirlo (Milan), Quagliarella (Sampdoria).

Scotland: Gordon (Hearts), Alexander (Preston), McManus (Celtic), Weir (Rangers), Naysmith (Everton), Teale (Derby), Brown (Hibernian), Ferguson (Rangers), Hartley (Celtic), McCulloch (Wigan), Miller (Celtic). Substitutes used: Maloney (Celtic), Boyd (Rangers), Beattie (Celtic).

Match Reports Italy, Scotland