September 07, 2010: UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifier, Group C:
Italy - Faroe Islands 5-0 (3-0) 11' 1-0 Alberto Gilardino 22' 2-0 Danielse de Rossi 27' 3-0 Antonio Cassano 81' 4-0 Fabio Quagliarella 90' 5-0 Andrea Pirlo
The Faroe Islands were overrun by Italy almost throughout the 90 minutes and never got close to any scoring opportunity.
Having survived a scare on 9 minutes when goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen intercepted an Italian cross from the by-line from close range, Nielsen’s still had to pick the ball out of his net just a minute later as the home-side took the lead from an Andrea Pirlo corner when Alberto Gilardino timed his jump better than the defender and headed downwards and into the goal.
Italy went close again on 17 minutes, but the low cross from the near post bounced off a Faroese foot and straight into the palms of goalkeeper Nielsen. Three minutes later, Nielsen was again called into action and was happy to see that Italy didn’t get anything from the rebound from his initial save.
However, that joy was short-lived as it took just another minute for Italy to double their lead. Luca Antonelli got to the by-line inside the penalty area and made the cut back to an unmarked Daniele de Rossi who had his first finish blocked, but managed to score on his second attempt.
Italy made it 3-0 five minutes later when Antonio Cassano hit a bullet from just outside the area.
Alberto Gilardino could have made it 4-0 on the half-hour mark when he had a clear sight of goal, but shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Italy continued with their power-play from the start of the second half and went close after 7 minutes when Antonelli’s scissors kick went just wide of the post.
However, Italy had to wait until 10 minutes were left on the clock to get their fourth goal. Riccardo Montolivo got to the by-line on the right hand side in the penalty area and made a pass in front of goal where the ball eventually was scrambled over the goal-line by Fabio Quagliarella.
Italy’s captain, Pirlo, curled in a free kick into the near top corner in the 90th minute to make it 5-0, but maybe Nielsen invited for it as he again left a lot of room on his right hand side as he did against Serbia on Friday. However, Pirlo’s strike had pace and was a quality free kick, and not as simple as Dejan Stankovic’s for Serbia.
The Faroe Islands never got close to scoring and had no qualified finish during the entire 90 minutes. The match was one of those typical ones where the Faroes meet quality opposition and there is practically just one team on the ground and where it typically ends 5-0 or 6-0.