Brazil registered a well-earned 2-0 win over Italy on Tuesday in a friendly game that was earlier dubbed by coach Marcelo Lippi the 'world derby'. Elano opened the scoring on 13 minutes, before Robinho added the game's second 14 minutes later. The Azzurri, whose 4-3-3 formation was proven unsuitable, were relatively out-of-form during the exhibition match. Dunga's men took advantage of their opponents' stuttering display to seal a morale-boosting win. The last competitive game between Italy and Brazil was the 1994 World Cup final, which the latter won on penalties. Their previous friendly game was held in Lyon in 1997, and it ended in a 3-3 draw. Clear-Cut Chances After a brief cagey start, both teams kept trying to carve out clear-cut chances, looking for an early opener. Italy were close to taking the lead four minutes after the kick-off when Fabio Grosso volleyed home, but the Lyon man's effort was ruled offside. The game remained even till Elano hit the opener after exchanging passes with Felipe Melo to go one-on-one with Gianluigi Buffon and fire home. Afterwards, the Samba Dancers exerted noticeable dominance over the world champions, who stumbled after conceding a surprising goal. On 23 minutes, Zambrotta tried to score single handedly after feinting past three defenders, who eventually didn't let him release a shot from inside the box. The five-time world champions doubled their lead and tightened their grip on the game four minutes later.
The skillful Robinho brilliantly cannoned a low shot that found the back of Buffon's net after eluding Italy's defenders. Flamboyant playmaker Ronaldinho could have widened Italy's misery on the half hour mark, but his free-kick went over the crossbar. A couple of minutes later, Giuseppe Rossi tried his luck from 25 yards, but his powerful shot stung Julio Cesar's palms. Diminutive midfielder Elano replied in no time after unleashing a long-range strike, but he missed the target by inches. Two-Goal Deficit After the restart, Lippi's men maintained their determination to overturn their two-goal deficit. Rossi tried his luck from a narrow angle in the early seconds of the second half, but his effort hit the side-netting. The Italians had more ball possession during the second period, but couldn't really take a stranglehold on the match. Luca Toni, who was introduced as a second-half substitute, had a goal disallowed as the referee adjudged the towering hitman to have handled the ball before slotting into the back of the net. On 82 minutes, Cesar denied Rossi's point-blank effort with great dexterity. The latter latched onto Zambrotta's long throw-in and rifled goalward, but the Brazilian goalie showed a fantastic reflex. The enthusiasm tailed off in the dying minutes, and the Brazilians were clearly close to a deserved victory. Watch the first goal Watch the second goal
