Italy humiliate hosts Germany

Florence: Italy thrashed World Cup hosts Germany 4-1 in a surprisingly one-sided international friendly on Wednesday.

The home side took early control, storming into a two-goal lead inside the first seven minutes at the Artemio Franchi stadium, home of Serie A side Fiorentina.

Alberto Gilardino pounced from close range before setting up Luca Toni for an easy second in front of his home crowd.

Daniele De Rossi's header before the break practically killed off German hopes of mounting a comeback, and Alessendro Del Piero added to their misery 11 minutes into the second half.

Robert Huth pulled one back for Germany eight minutes from time.

Germany managed just three efforts on target and their lame performance suggested they will pose little threat in this summer's tournament, even with home advantage.

Their defence, the rock upon which the great German teams of the past have been built, was exposed time after time by Italy's pace and movement.

The Italians, on the other hand, demonstrated their true quality with a flawless display that oozed class, defensive solidity complimented by a clinical forward line.

Victory in Florence extended Italy's unbeaten run in the Renaissance city, having never lost an international played here in 22 matches.

Marcello Lippi admitted Italy's superb start left Germany with a mountain to climb.

"A 2-0 lead after seven minutes was better than we could have hoped for and it gave us control of the match early on," said the Italy coach.

"But I wouldn't say Germany are a poor team. The other day I watched their defeat to Brazil in the Confederations Cup and they were the better team and didn't deserve to lose. You tell me which is the real Germany."

PAGE_BREAK

Lippi was delighted with his three strikers, who all got on the scoresheet.

"They showed great willingness to track back and at the same time they were able to hurt the opposition," he said.

"In football today, you just cant have three strikers who wait for the ball to come to them and they showed great energy in getting up and down the pitch."

Lippi admitted Italy were peaking at the right time with the World Cup just three months away.

"We are starting to see the fruits of a year's hard work," he said.

Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann said his team paid a heavy price for their poor defending in the opening stages.

"Italy gave us a lesson today," moaned the former Inter Milan striker, who scored 36 goals in 103 Serie A appearances.

"At 2-0 up, Italy were able to play on the counter-attack and we didn't come up with a good response. We weren't able to put them under any pressure."

Police were forced into drawing their truncheons minutes before kick-off to prevent German fans from clashing with Italian supporters inside the stadium, but order was quickly restored.

The loss of Roma's Francesco Totti, who broke a bone in his left leg 10 days ago and may not be fit in time for the World Cup, meant a place in Italy's starting line-up for Juventus striker Del Piero.

With Gianluca Zambrotta still recovering from injury, Palermo's Fabio Grosso was brought in on the left-hand side of the Azzurri defence.

Germany's first-choice goalkeeper Oliver Kahn was ruled out with a thigh strain, so Arsenal's Jens Lehmann came in for a rare start.

Germany's defence was caught napping at a free-kick in the fourth minute after Fabio Grosso had been fouled on the left wing.

Del Piero swung the ball over for Fabio Cannavaro whose point blank header was only parried by Lehmann, and Gilardino snapped up the loose ball. Matters worsened for the visitors three minutes later.

Del Piero's quickly-taken free-kick surprised the German back four and sent Gilardino racing clear towards goal.

The 23-year-old AC Milan striker looked up and unselfishly slid the ball across to give Toni a tap-in.

Italy might have had a third moments later when Del Piero's crossed free-kick found Gilardino unmarked, but he failed by just a few inches to make a connection.

Germany then sliced Italy open with their first genuine attack, but Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a superb save to keep out Sebastian Deisler's vicious drive.

De Rossi made it 3-0 in the 39th minute, applying the finishing touch to Mauro Camoranesi's cross as the German defence suffered another alarming lapse in concentration.

Limiting the damage was Germany's task now, but they leaked another goal in the 56th minute.

Gilardino's cross from the left was headed back across goal by Camoranesi and Del Piero dived low to head past a helpless Lehmann.

Huth's late strike was of little consolation for the poor Germans.