Czech -mated!

Twice in the early stages Nedved tested his Juventus club-mate, Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon with long-range efforts. Buffon dealt well with a dipping drive but could only parry out another Nedved effort — although the Italy keeper did well to smotherMarek Jankulovski’s follow-up.

Italy’s problems increased in the 17th minute when they were forced into a change – Alessandro Nesta, suffering from what appeared to be a recurrence of his troublesome muscle injury, limping off to be replaced by Materazzi. Nine minutes after entering, the big central defender headed the Azzurri in front with his first goal for the national side leaping superbly above Polak to power a header past Petr Cech.

The Italian grip on the game got tighter just before the break when Polak was dismissed for a second bookable offence for a foul from behind on Totti. Totti, still looking far from his best, was given space for a long range effort that Cech pushed round the post in the 53rd minute.

Simon Evans