Italy 2-0 Czech Republic

Italy scored a 2-0 win over Czech Republic and sent them out of the tournament.

Defender Marco Materazzi came on for Alessandro Nesta after only 17 minutes due to a groin injury and he wasted little time in making his mark by rising to head home Francesco Totti's corner in the 26th minute.

The goal came at a crucial time for Italy as the Czech were determined to score first and were piling up the pressure on the Italian defence right from the start. In the 87th minute, Inzaghi who came on in the second half, rounded goalkeeper Petr Cech in a one-to-one situation to slot home the second goal.

Soccer Pundit did not see anything extraordinary from the Italians. The Czechs however have a hero in Pavel Nedved who ran himself into the ground, defending when the opponent has the ball, and leading the attack when his team has possession. They were unlucky to lose but circumstances had really forced their campaign to become meaningless.

Upfront, they missed the experience of striker Jan Koller and the rushing of Milan Baros into this match showed the Czech's desperation. Baros was missing in fitness and sharpness and it was impossible to expect him to shoulder such a heavy responsibility. The Czech also did not make the best of the situation by missing their set-pieces. Jan Polak's sending off was also a turning point and an irresponsible action towards his team-mates.

These factors were simply too much for their one and only savior, Pavel Nedved to overcome, thus leaving an ignominious defeat the only outcome. The Italians played tactically (as usual), kept their focus and did not make serious mistakes while scoring when they needed to. Soccer Pundit sees this as the trademark of a winner and even though not really impressed, have to say that the Italians will make it past the quarter-finals...