Brace yourself

Vieri double gives Italy 2-0 win over Ecuador

Edwin Tenorio of Ecuador (right) tries to tackle Francesco Totti of Italy. Alex Livesey/Getty Images

SAPPORO, Japan (AP) -- Three-time champions Italy demolished World Cup debutants Ecuador, using burly forward Christian Vieri as the battering ram. An impressive start -- but just the start, the Italians say.

"There are more goals on the way," Vieri said, after scoring both goals in Italy's 2-0 win.

"The boys tried hard to get me a third goal, but it doesn't really matter," he said. "We're going to improve on this."

Italy -- known more for defense than attack in the past -- appeared to be turning that reputation around under coach Giovanni Trapattoni, who linked Vieri with glorious playmaker Francesco Totti in Monday's match.

The dynamic duo produced the first goal together, and if luck had gone their way they would have had more.

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Midfielder Luigi Di Biagio said forget the old, defensive Italy.

"We have a great attack," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, we have the best attack in the world."

Vieri used his powerful left foot to redirect a cross from Totti into the back of the net in the seventh minute. Twenty minutes later, Vieri took control of a long pass and again beat Ecuador goalkeeper Jose Cevallos.

The Inter Milan striker's initial shot was partially blocked by Cevallos, but the ball kept moving toward the goal and Vieri jogged toward it, calmly tapping it in.

At France '98, Vieri also led Italy's attack, scoring five goals in five matches.

"All the team was in form," Totti said. "We produced some beautiful play. We could have scored more goals, but the Ecuador keeper made some good saves.

"We started the right way," he said.

Ecuador had trouble penetrating Italy's experienced backline throughout the match, and the much-touted Southampton forward Agustin Delgado failed to make an impression.

Ecuador coach Hernan Dario Gomez was disappointed but not surprised.

"It's tough playing your first World Cup match ever against a team like Italy," Gomez said. "What an initiation."

Stat Summary Italy     Ecuador  2  Goals  0  13  Shots  8  8  Shots on goal  5  19  Fouls  18  5  Corner kicks  8  0  Penalty kicks  0  6  Offsides  2  0  Own goals  0  1  Yellow cards  3  0  Red cards  0  40%  Ball possession  60%  21  Actual playing time  32     Attendance: 31,081     MATCH SUMMARY

Italy seemed content to let Ecuador control the ball in the second half, but made sure to stop the South Americans from creating any significant scoring chances.

Midfielder Cristiano Doni -- making his World Cup debut -- had Italy's best second-half chance, hitting the cross bar on a jumping attempt off a Totti corner kick in the 58th.

The match was played indoors before a crowd of 31,081 at the Sapporo Dome in this northern Japanese city.

Fans in Italy's blue shirts were more in evidence than those in Ecuador's bright yellow, though for the most part they were not Italians but Japanese, who have taken to the high-profile Italian squad. Italy gained no home-field advantage, however, with the Ecuadoreans making at least as much noise, banging drums and shouting "EC-WA-DOOR! EC-WA-DOOR!"

Earlier, Mexico defeated Croatia 1-0 in Monday's other Group G match. Italy plays Croatia next, on Saturday, and Ecuador meets Mexico on Sunday.

Italy and Mexico each have three points in Group G.

Summary

Italy 2 Ecuador 0 - result

World Cup, group G

Scorer: Christian Vieri 7, 27

Yellow cards:

Italy - Fabio Cannavaro 74

Ecuador - Augusto Porozo 14, Ulises De la Cruz 49, Cleber Chala 54

Halftime: 2-0; Attendance: 31,081

Teams:

Italy (4-4-2) - 1-Gianluigi Buffon; 2-Christian Panucci,13-Alessandro Nesta, 5-Fabio Cannavaro, 3-Paolo Maldini; 19-Gianluca Zambrotta; 17-Damiano Tommasi, 14-Luigi Di Biagio (8-Gennaro Gattuso 69), 11-Cristiano Doni (16-Angelo Di Livio 64); 10-Francesco Totti (7-Alessandro Del Piero 74), 21-Christian Vieri.

Ecuador (4-5-1): 1-Jose Cevallos; 4-Ulises De la Cruz, 3-Ivan Hurtado, 2-Augusto Porozo, 6-Raul Guerron; 20-Edwin Tenorio (15-Marlon Ayovi 59), 5-Alfonso Obregon, 16-Cleber Chala (7-Nicolas Asencio 85), 19-Edison Mendez, 10-Alex Aguinaga (18-Carlos Tenorio 46); 11-Agustin Delgado.

Match Referee: Brian Hall (United States)

Linesmen : Hector Vergara (Canada), Phil Sharp (England)

 

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