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Italy, Chile advance from Group B
Italians avoid Brazil with 2-1 win over Austria
Posted: Tuesday June 23, 1998 12:09 PM
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Christian Vieri (right) put Italy up 1-0, and the Italians hung on to win Group B (AP) |
ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- There's no telling what Italian coach Cesar Maldini
told his team at halftime of its match with Austria. Maybe
he just wrote Chile 1, Cameroon 0 on
the scoreboard. Regardless, it lit a fire under Italy, which
avoided a second-round match with Brazil when it
knocked off Austria 2-1.
Italy, which came into the day with a one-point lead over Chile in Group B,
got a header goal from Christian Vieri just four minutes into the second
half and a stoppage time score from Roberto Baggio to hold off Austria for
the win and first place in Group B with a total of seven points.
Chile, meanwhile, finished group play in second place and locked itself
into a match with tournament favorites Brazil when it drew 1-1 with
Cameroon, which got the equalizer playing with just 10 men after having
Rigobert Song sent off in the 52nd minute with a red card for violent
contact.
Jose Luis Sierra put Chile ahead in the 21st minute with a gorgeous 24-yard
free kick from the right side, which he curled with his left foot over the
wall and into the upper right corner of the net. The contest was a wild
one, with Chile getting numerous chances to win in the second half, and
Cameroon losing defender Lavriano Etame to a red card late in the second
half for a dangerous foul.
Jose Luis Sierra put Chile up early with a free kick score | |
In the end, though, so long as Chile did not lose to Cameroon, it could do
no better than second place, provided Italy won, which it did. The Chileans
advanced after drawing in all three of its first-round games.
Italy and Austria played a fairly uninspiring match, one which Austria had
to win to advance to the second round. But it was the Italians, as opposed
to the Austrians, who were the aggressors for much of the game.
Austria only got on the board in stoppage time after Baggio's goal when a
foul was whistled in the Italian penalty area, and Andreas Herzog knocked
home the resulting penalty kick. It marked the third straight game in which
Austria scored in stoppage time.
Chile will now face Brazil, the Group A winner, on Saturday in Paris in a
round of 16 match. Italy, meanwhile, must wait until Tuesday afternoon to
discover who it will play on Saturday, as second place in Group A is still
up for grabs between Morocco, Norway and Scotland.
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