
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon superbly saved Adrian Mutu's penalty with nine minutes remaining to keep the world champions' UEFA EURO 2008™ hopes alive as the Azzurri and Romania battled out a breathless draw in Zurich.
Penalty drama
Buffon dived to his left to block the ACF Fiorentina striker's stinging drive with his arm and foot after Christian Panucci had held back Daniel Niculae in the area. Defeat would have left Italian ambitions on a knife-edge but in a free-flowing match they delivered a perfect response to Mutu's 55th-minute opener as Panucci levelled a minute later. It salvaged a crucial point, which kept Italy in Group C contention before their reprise of the FIFA World Cup final against France on Thursday when Romania play the Netherlands.
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Romania | |
| 1 | Bogdan Lobonţ |
| 2 | Cosmin Contra |
| 3 | Răzvan Raţ |
| 4 | Gabriel Tamaş |
| 5 | Cristian Chivu |
| 6 | Mirel Rădoi |
| 7 | Florentin Petre |
| 8 | Paul Codrea |
| 10 | Adrian Mutu |
| 15 | Dorin Goian |
| 21 | Daniel Niculae |
| Substitutes | |
| 12 | Marius Popa |
| 23 | Eduard Stăncioiu |
| 9 | Ciprian Marica |
| 11 | Răzvan Cociş |
| 13 | Cristian Săpunaru |
| 14 | Sorin Ghionea |
| 16 | Bănel Nicoliţă |
| 17 | Cosmin Moţi |
| 18 | Marius Niculae |
| 19 | Adrian Cristea |
| 20 | Nicolae Dică |
| 22 | Ştefan Radu |
| Coach: Victor Piţurcă | |
| Italy | Romania | |
| 1 | Goals scored | 1 |
| 2 | Yellow card | 3 |
| 0 | Red card | 0 |
| 4 | Shots on goal | 5 |
| 5 | Shots wide | 5 |
| 12 | Fouls committed | 19 |
| 12 | Corners | 5 |
| 6 | Offsides | 4 |
| 34' 57'' | Ball. Poss. (time) | 30' 53'' |
| 53% | Ball. Poss. (%) | 47% |
| Teams | Pld | +/- | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
Netherlands | 3 | 8 | 9 |
Italy | 3 | -1 | 4 |
Romania | 3 | -2 | 2 |
France | 3 | -5 | 1 |
| 09/06/2008 | - | Netherlands | 0 - 3 |
| 17/06/2008 | - | France | 2 - 0 |
| 22/06/2008 | - | Spain | 0 - 0* |
| 09/06/2008 | - | France | 0 - 0 |
| 17/06/2008 | - | Netherlands | 0 - 2 |
| Netherlands | - | France | 4 - 1 |