Full time: England 1-2 Italy 90+4 Pirlo almost adds the third for Italy!! His stunning, swerving free-kick strikes the bar after wrong-footing Joe Hart. 90+2 Sterling receives a yellow card for fouling Parolo. The match looks settled now in Italy's favour. 90' The referee adds five minutes of stoppage time. 89' England dominate possession in the dying minutes without really threatening Sirigu. 89' Sterling skips past his challenger and runs towards the area but his shot is deflected off a defender to go out. 87' Some fine individual work from Barkley ends in the feet of Rooney, whose poor shot flies high over. 85' A free-kick from Gerrard, who remains a peripheral figure in a disappointing night for the Liverpool skipper, goes over the bar. 83' Sterling is unable to make his presence felt on the right flank after switching to a new role following the substitution of Welbeck. England are struggling to carve out openings. 81' England have less than 10 minutes to equalise. Their task is made harded by Italy's cautious strategy in the latter stages, as the Azzurri pack their midfield and defence to stifle England's attempts. 79' England also make their final substitution. Sturridge, who looks injured, is replaced with promising forward Adam Lallana. 79' Italy make their third and final substitution.Marco Parolo replaces Candreva. 76' Baines comes close for England! His curling free-kick is superbly blocked by Sirigu, who perfectly fills in for Gianluigi Buffon. 73' Italy and England make their second substitutions. Balotelli is replaced with Ciro Immobile for Italy and Henderson is replaced with Jack Wilshere for England. 72' Glen Johnson's powerful shot goes wide following a corner. 68' Candreva lets fly from the edge of the area but his shot misses the target. Baines leaves huge gaps behind him. 66' Sterling's low cross is cleared by the Italy defence. England increase their pressure in the final third. 64' A Barkley shot on the turn is blocked by Sirigu. It's an end-to-end affair now, with both sides looking capable of adding more goals. 64' Italy's full-back Darmian is thwarted by the defence after controlling a long ball inside the area. 61' Rooney squanders a golden chance for England!! He beats the offside trap to control a pass and cut inside, but his low shot from inside the area goes just wide. 61' England make their first substitution. Ross Barkley replaces Danny Welbeck as Hodgson seeks to add more flair. 61' At the other end, Sturridge's left-foot, curling effort from the edge of the area narrowly misses the target. 60' Balotelli just fails to get on the end of a cross from the right as Joe Hart handles the ball. 60' Italy look in control now, moving the ball around smoothly as England are pegged back. 57' Italy make their first substitution. Midfielder Thiago Motta replaces Marco Verratti. 56' A chance for England!! A one-two between Gerrard and Welbeck puts the former in a good position butGabriel Paletta intercepts to clear the ball. 55' England expose the gaps behind Chiellini again but their eventual low cross is cleared by the Italy defence. 54' Rooney goes close for England!! He runs towards the area after outmuscling his challenger but his angled shot narrowly misses the target. 53' England will be looking to quickly redeem themselves as they did in the first half when they fell behind. 50' Balotelli restores Italy's advantage!! Candreva gets the better of Baines on the right and whips in an inswinging cross with his left foot for the AC Milan forward to head home at the far post after rising unchallenged. ## 50' GOAL FOR ITALY!! 49' Sturridge sends a long-range low shot that is blocked by Sirigu. England make a lively start to the second period. 46' England start with an early attempt. Welbeck exchanges passes with Rooney but Italy's defence clears the danger. The second half is underway The referee blows his halftime whistle 45+2' Another chance for Italy!! Candreva's close-range from a tight angle strikes the post. 45+2' Italy almost score the second goal!! Balotelli ghosts behind the defence to latch onto a through ball and lobs the ball over the keeper but Jagielka clears off the line!! 45+1' The referee adds two minutes of stoppage time. 45' Italy right-back Darmian cuts inside from the right and jinks towards the area but his shot goes high over. 42' England's wingers cause Italy's backline all sorts of problems. 40' The lively England restore parity after just two minutes of falling behind. Another exciting World Cup game. 37' Daniel Sturridge equalises for England!! Rahim Sterling releases Rooney down the left with a deft through pass and the Man United striker whips in an inch-perfect cross for Sturridge to fire home at the far post. What a brilliant counter attack. ## 37' GOAL FOR ENGLAND!! 36' Cesare Prandelli's tactics seem fruitful so far. Although they play without recognized wingers, their build-up play in midfield is excellent. 35' Claudio Marchisio opens the scoring with a powerful, long-range shot that goes into the bottom corner after a clever dummy from Pirlo. ## 35' GOAL FOR ITALY!! 34' Its Italy's turn now to launch some dangerous attempts. 33' Balotelli wastes a chance for Italy! He gets a slight touch to a cross with his head after Italy break the offside trap down the right. 30' Both sides eased off a bit in the second quarter of an hour, with the play mainly focused on physical battles in midfield. 30' Italy's lone striker Balotelli and England forward Rooney are yet to make their presence felt. 28' A low Candeva shot from the edge of the area goes wide. Italy are restricted to tame shots which they send in more hope that expectation. 26' Italy are still finding it difficult to penetrate the resolute England defence. The pace of England's forwards could catch the Italy rearguard on the break. 24' A goal-scoring chance for England!! The pacey Welbeck forces his way into the byline and pulls the ball back butAndrea Barzagli clears the danger with a sliding tackle. 23' At the other end, a curling shot from Mario Balotelli goes over the crossbar. 22' After some neat passes, Sterling controls a long ball on the left and sends in a low cross that goes begging, with Welbeck failing to get on the end of it. 19' Italy midfielder Verrati tries his luck from distance. Joe Hart spills his shot but no Italy forward is present to follow up. 17' Italy's tame crosses are easily collected by Joe Hart. England's packed midfield and defence is making it difficult for the Azzurri to mount threats. 16' Glen Johnson cuts inside his marker on the right but his subsequent shot goes wide. 15' The first quarter of an hour was evenly-balanced, but England look more dangerous with some long-range shots which were saved by Italy's stand-in keeper Salvatore Sirigu. 13' Daniel Sturridge runs down the right and skips past his challenger but he dithers on the ball and his eventual cross, under pressure from his markers, is collected by the keeper. England are trying to exploit the gaps behind Chellini. 11' A Welbeck low shot from the edge of the area narrowly misses the target after a poor pass fromGabriel Paletta was intercepted. 11' Andrea Pirlo's deep long balls are still not accurate. 10' A cross from England right-back Glen Johnson is easily collected by Sirigu. England are relying on Wayne Rooney and Welbeck down the flanks. 8' A low shot from Giorgio Chellini from inside the area goes wide as Italy pile on pressure in an end-to-end start to the game. 5' Another powerful shot, this time from Jordan Henderson, is blocked by a diving save from Italy's stand-in keeper Salvatore Sirigu. 4' What a strike for England! Rahim Sterling's piledriver from distance hits the side-netting. The game look so lively early on. ## 3' A cross from Italy's right-backMatteo Darmian is cleared by the England defence. Italy have the upper hand in the early stages. 1' Andrea Pirlo tries to send one of his trademark deep long balls but it goes out. He will shoulder the playmaking responsibilities of the Azzurri. The match is underway 00:50 Both sides step onto the pitch for the customary pre-match national anthems. 00:45 Uruguay's surprise defeat by Costa Rica might come as a boost for England and Italy. But they must be aware that Costa Rica showed they are capable of springing more surprises in the group. 00:30 Thirty minutes remaining before kick off. It's expected to be one of the most closely-fought clashes of the World Cup group stage. 00:20 On the other hand, Italy coach Cesare Prandelliplays with a cautious strategy that comprises of several holding midfielders, including veterans Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi. 00:15 England coach Roy Hodgson opts for a bold approach, with his line-up featuring four forwards in Rooney, Welbeck, Sterling and Sturridge. 00:10Italy's starting line-up: Salvatore Sirigu, Matteo Darmian, Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli, Antonio Candreva, Claudio Marchisio, Marco Verratti, Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, Gabriel Paletta, Mario Balotelli. 00:00 England starting line-up: Joe Hart, Glen Johnson, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Rahim Sterling, Daniel Sturridge. 23:40“The history of the World Cup tells us that the first matches are never decisive, like at USA '94 or South Africa 2010 when Spain won it having lost at the start to Switzerland,"Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said. 23:15"It's probably the best squad I've been involved in so it's great to be a part of. I am looking forward to this tournament and the future with England because it certainly looks bright," England striker Wayne Rooney said. 22:45England lost to Italy on penalties in the quarter-finals of the European Championship two years ago and the Italians are strongly favoured to emerge from a tough group that also includes Uruguay and Costa Rica. 22:30 Italy, who won the World Cup in 2006 in Germany, are seeking to equal the record of five-time winners Brazil. England, who often flatter to deceive when it matters most, have won the tournament only once in 1966. 22:15 Italy received a blow few hours before the game after veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was ruled out after twisting his ankle in Friday's training session. ## Venue: Arena Amazonia (Manaus, Amazonas) Officials: Referee: B. Kuipers (Netherlands) Assistants: S. van Roekel (Netherlands), E. Zeinstra (Netherlands) Fourth official: W. Lopez (Guatemala) For the match preview, click here (For more sports news and updates,followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/103652.aspx
