THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BARI, Italy — Robbie Keane scored in the 89th minute Wednesday to give Ireland a 1-1 draw with 10-man Italy in World Cup qualifying.
Veteran goalkeeper Shay Given booted the ball all the way into Italy’s area and Caleb Folan’s header set up Keane in position to beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon with an angled shot.
"As a coach you play to win, but against Italy we’ll settle for a draw," said Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni, who previously guided his native Italy and is considered one of the top managers in Italian football history. "We knew Italy’s defenders are among the best in the world and it wouldn’t be easy to score."
Vincenzo Iaquinta had put Italy in front after 10 minutes, redirecting a pass that Fabio Grosso slid across the goal mouth.
Italy forward Giampaolo Pazzini was sent off with a red card three minutes in for elbowing John O’Shea while going up for a header, bloodying the Ireland defender’s face.
Italy, the defending World Cup champion, leads Group 8 with 14 points, followed by Ireland with 12 points and Bulgaria with seven.
.Italy coach Marcello Lippi was critical of German referee Wolfgang Stark for expelling Pazzini.
"It’s not right to have something like that happen at the international level," Lippi said. "We fought and did what we needed to. It’s too bad for the goal at the end, but I’m most upset at having played a game like this with 10 men for a referee’s mistake."
Ireland assistant coach Marco Tardelli, who played on the Italy side that won the 1982 World Cup, acknowledged that the referee was probably influenced by the blood on O’Shea’s face.
Despite playing a man down, stalwart defenders Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio Chiellini held Ireland at bay until Keane’s late strike.
"It was too bad, because it would have been a nice award for the way we controlled the game," said Cannavaro, who made his 124th appearance for the Azzurri, moving within two of Paolo Maldini’s record.
The San Nicola stadium was full, with 50,000 Italian fans and 9,000 Ireland supporters. There were worries that the home fans would whistle at Italy since Bari-born striker Antonio Cassano wasn’t picked by Lippi, but the outrage was mostly limited to a few chants and banners.
With Luca Toni, Alberto Gilardino and Antonio Di Natale each injured, Lippi lined up an untested attack of Simone Pepe, Pazzini and Vincenzo Iaquinta.
Trapattoni countered with Keane and Kevin Doyle at the front of his 4-4-2 formation.
Italy’s lineup was quickly altered when Pazzini was sent off, while O’Shea came off only briefly to stop the bleeding.
Italian football federation president Giancarlo Abete called the expulsion "completely wrong."
"Even re-watching the action on TV I didn’t see anything that warranted an expulsion," Abete told Italian state TV at halftime. "The referee must have been influenced by the blood. I can’t think of anything else."
It was Pazzini’s second international game, having scored in his debut Saturday, a 2-0 win at Montenegro.
It didn’t take long for the crowd at the San Nicola stadium to get over its astonishment, with Iaquinta’s goal coming shortly after the expulsion.
Midfielder Andrea Pirlo booted the ball upfield to Fabio Grosso on the left flank and the defender managed to put the ball at Iaquinta’s feet amid a crowd of defenders.
All Iaquinta had to do was flick the ball in from a few yards) It was the Juventus striker’s second goal for the Azzurri, with his last strike coming in the opening game of Italy’s victorious run at the 2006 World Cup.
Attempting to take advantage of Pazzini’s expulsion, Trapattoni put on a third striker in the 21st minute, removing midfielder Andy Keogh for Caleb Folan.
Keane had the visitors first decent chance with a long shot that sailed a yard over the crossbar in the 25th.
Another Pirlo-Grosso combination resulted in a look for Pepe in the 32nd but the Udinese forward missed wide.
Given intercepted another pass from Pirlo to Grosso in the 38th and Stephen Hunt had Ireland’s best chance of the half two minutes later, forcing Gianluigi Buffon to tip his shot over the crossbar.
Pirlo was replaced by Angelo Palombo at halftime and defender Andrea Dossena came on for Pepe in the 55th as Lippi tried to protect the lead.
Ireland thought it had earned a penalty when Buffon tripped Hunt near the goal in the 56th, but Stark made no call.
Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi picked up a yellow card in the 81st that will rule him out of the Azzurri’s next qualifier in Georgia in September.