Italy beat Bulgaria but their worst nightmare was realised when Denmark and
Sweden drew 2-2 to knock the Azzurri out of Euro 2004.
Giovanni Trapattoni's men were made to suffer and got the win they needed but
the other Group C result meant both Scandinavian countries advanced to the
quarter-final stages on goal difference.
It was almost over much earlier after Bulgaria took the lead into half-time
with a penalty from Wolfsburg midfielder Martin Petrov.
Italy equalised after the restart through Chievo midfielder Simone Perrotta
and just as news of the other match's result reached Guimaraes, Roma forward
Antonio Cassano gave Italy a lead which ultimately meant nothing.
The turn of events completed a terrible tournament for the Azzurri, who drew
with Denmark in their opener and 1-1 against Sweden.
Italy had to do without the suspended trio of Fabio Cannavaro, Gennaro Gattuso
and Francesco Totti.
Christian Vieri was unable to start due to a knee injury and when he did
appear as a second-half substitute, he made little impact.
They dominated the early stages but it took them 14 minutes before they could
test Bulgaria goalkeeper Zdravko Zdravkov.
Cassano's fine cross from the right side found an unmarked Stefano Fiore,
whose acrobatic shot from close range was superbly parried by Zdravkov but only
as far as Alessandro del Piero, whose left-footed attempt went narrowly wide of
the goalkeeper's right-hand post.
Five minutes later, Bernardo Corradi should have given his side the lead.
Gianluca Zambrotta's perfect cross into the box was flicked on by Cassano but
the unmarked Corradi headed straight at Zdravkov.
In the 29th minute, Martin Petrov finally tested goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon
with a powerful left-footed effort from the edge of the area before Cassano
fired one wide at the other end.
One minute before the break, disaster struck for the Azzurri when Russian
referee Valentin Ivanov pointed to the spot after defender Marco Materazzi held
on to Petrov inside the area.
And it was Petrov whose precise shot towards the left post beat Buffon to give
his side a 1-0 lead, and Bulgaria's first goal of the tournament.
Bulgaria's celebrations did not last long, however, as Italy's prayers were
answered three minutes after the restart.
Zdravkov spilled the ball after Cassano had struck the crossbar and Perrotta
pounced to score. The goal brought Italy alive and they made their first
substitution on 53 minutes, with Vieri replacing Corradi.
The Inter Milan forward could have given his team the lead shortly after, but
his forced header following Andrea Pirlo's precise cross went off-target.
The Azzurri still required one more goal if they aimed to reach the last eight
at this stage and del Piero should have made it 2-1 in the 68th minute but his
angled shot from the box went straight to Zdravkov's hands.
With 12 minutes remaining Zambrotta tried his luck from distance but his shot
on target was deflected wide by a defender. Seconds later, Trapattoni played his
last card with Juventus forward Marco di Vaio replacing Materazzi.
Dimitar Berbatov could then have finished off Italy, had Buffon not
intervened. The Juventus goalkeeper made a superb save following the Bayer
Leverkusen striker's free-kick from the edge of the area.
One minute before the end, Italy took the lead with Cassano's close-range shot
finishing in the net but the players' celebrations soon ended with Trapattoni
confirming their worst nightmare had taken place in Porto.
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