Buffon’s blushes spared as Italy holds Spain
Print Edition
ITALY’S Daniele De Rossi scored a late penalty to earn a 1-1 draw against Spain in its World Cup qualifier in Turin on Thursday, sparing home goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon’s blushes after he gifted the visitors the lead.
Buffon, making his 164th appearance, rushed out of his area as Vitolo broke clear but the 38-year-old completely mistimed his tackle, allowing the Spaniard to go round him and put the ball into an empty net in the 55th minute.
Italy, which had been outplayed in the Group G clash, fought back and levelled in the 82nd when Eder was fouled by Sergio Ramos and De Rossi converted the spot kick, its only shot on target in the match.
Spain forward Diego Costa was lucky not to be sent off after the break. Having already been booked in the first half, he hoofed the ball away in disgust after being flagged offside but escaped a booking and was immediately substituted.
The result, in a rough game which produced 32 fouls and eight yellow cards, left both teams with four points from two games behind Albania on six after its 2-0 win away to Liechtenstein.
Buffon has played for Italy for nearly 19 years, having made his debut as a 19-year-old on October 29, 1997. Buffon, who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006, broke a 22-year-old Serie A record last season for not conceding a goal, going 974 consecutive minutes before he was finally beaten.
“In a year and a half one can laugh about, if it happens again in two days or 20 days we will laugh less,” Buffon said. “We managed to recover and my teammates were really commendable because after the goal we found a physical and mental force to rescue a match which seemed impossible looking at how the first hour went.
“I had too many ideas in my head on how I was going to kick the ball. I was scared of kicking it off him and I thought of another way, but then ended up making a hash of it.”
Italy remains unbeaten in European and World Cup qualifying matches since 2006, a run of 52 matches, while Spain has not lost a World Cup qualifier since 1993, a total of 55 games.
Both teams have changed coach since Euro 2016 with Giampiero Ventura replacing Antonio Conte for Italy and Julen Lopetegui taking over for Spain in place of Vicente del Bosque. Costa was involved in an early skirmish with Leonardo Bonucci and was booked just before halftime after the pair clashed again.
In Vienna, Euro 2016 semifinalists Wales earned a potentially crucial point as it aims to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1958, although it twice threw away the lead in its 2-2 draw with Austria in Group D.
Also, Israel won 2-1 in Macedonia, and Serbia was a 3-0 winner in Moldova.
Croatia taught Kosovo a harsh lesson as it beat the new boys 6-0. Iceland claimed a 3-2 home win against Finland.
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