Italy put leash on Red Devils

The win leaves Italy top of Group B with six points, after their 2-1 victory over Turkey, with only Sweden left to face. Mathematically, they are not yet qualified for the last eight.

In a devastating start, Italy had three clear chances before scoring their goal, with Antonio Conte heading a Gianluca Zambrotta cross narrowly wide.

Then Belgian goalkeeper Filip de Wilde made a brilliant double save in the fifth minute. First he parried a Maldini effort and then scrambled back to foil Filippo Inzaghi’s shot on the rebound.

The `Red Devils’ breathed again but the breakthrough for Zoff’s men came almost immediately.

Demetrio Albertini powered over a free-kick from the right and Totti stooped for a bullet header which left De Wilde no chance.

Belgium hit back immediately and were unlucky not toequalise when Bart Goor crashed a shot against the top of the post and Emile Mpenza, who scored Saturday’s winner in the 2-1 victory over Sweden, drove in a menacing low drive.

The hosts kept up the pressure as Mpenza fired a shotagainst Fabio Cannavaro’s legs and playmaker Marc Wilmots twice gave Italy goalkeeper Francesco Toldo a fright — rising to meet Goor’s 18th minute corner with a powerful header and then colliding with Toldo as he raced onto a through ball.

Yves Vanderhaeghe was the next to try his luck. But the midfielder saw his shot cannon off the Italian defence, while Gert Verheyen should have done better on the break in the 32nd minute than his weak low shot.

Goor cracked a free-kick round the Italian wall three minutes later but Toldo had it well covered. Toldo was also in the right place in the 43rd minute when Mpenza neatly laid the ball back for Wilmots and the midfielder’s rasping first-time shot flew straight into the arms of the Fiorentina ‘keeper.

Belgium picked up the second half where they left off the first, with veteran defender Lorenzo Staelens prodding in a loose ball from 15 metres which the partially unsighted Toldo saw at the last minute and tipped round the post at full stretch.

Wilmots then headed wide after a corner as Belgium tightened the screw and substitute Luc Nilis, who had just replaced an ineffective Branko Strupar, nearly caught Toldo out with a daisy-cutter free-kick on the hour.

The pressure looked certain to pay off. But instead Belgium were knocked out by another quality strike from the 1994 World Cup finalists.

Fiore picked up the ball in midfield, worked a one-two with Inzaghi and then crashed a 20-metre shot past de Wilde with his instep.

Italy even looked to have had a third when Joos Valgaeren headed into his own net in the closing minutes, but the defender had been pushed in the back by Italian substitute Marco Delvecchio and the strike was disallowed.

Fellow substitute Alessandro Del Piero failed to make themost of a breakaway in the closing minutes, but did better with a barrelling free-kick from the left wing which De Wilde tipped over for a corner.