Italy beat Romania 24-18

September 13, 2007 - Marseille – After the unluky debut with the All Blacks, Italy won the second Rugby World Cup match against Romania at the Stade Velodrome.Despite starting brightly the Azzurri struggled to break down their opponents for long spells and were given a scare when Romania took a 12-8 lead in the second half.But the Romanians' indiscipline cost them dearly in the final half-hour as a series of penalties from Ramiro Pez proved the difference between the sides.Italy full back David Bortolussi kicked one penalty, and fly half Ramiro Pez was successful with three penalties and a conversion while Romania full back Iulian Dumitras missed out on 11 points on offer by sending the ball wide with three penalty and one conversion attempt. Down 8-0 at the half time Romania came out of the break full of intent and got into immediate field position from the kick-off from where Manta crashed over following a line-out drive in the 42nd minute.Five minutes later Romania hooker Marius Tincu scored after some fantastic lead-up work. The powerful front row picked and drove from a ruck and powered through three would-be tackles to give Romania the lead for the first time in the match.But it proved short-lived as Italy piled on the points with the opposition one man down and Romania never recovered.The Azurri face Portugal on September 19th before a crucial game against Scotland on September 29th that could decide a quarter-final place.

Scotland defeated France!

September 13th, 2007 - Paris – The Park de Princes saw a shock 1-0 victory for Scotland over Euro 2008 group B rivals France yesterday night. Around 15,000 fans had made the trip from Scotland hoping to see a good performance, but nobody could have imagined to go back with a victory. France were without Thierry Henry who picked up a yellow card against Italy at the weekend and was therefore suspended, but they could count on formidable players such as Makelele, Viera, Trezeguet, Malouda and Ribery.And, as expected, the visitors had to wait and press a lot before getting their foot on the ball. For the first quarter of an hour, France were entirely dominant, then Scotland went on the offensive, forcing a corner of their own when Fletcher’s free-kick was deflected off Makelele. But almost immediately France were on the attack again, Malouda doing the hard work on the by-line but his powerful cross was too much for Ribery who shot over the bar. Just before the break France could have put themselves a goal up but their efforts did not find a route through the Scottish defence.After the re-start, the turning point of the match came at the 64th minute with a wonder-strike from James McFadden that ensured the victory for Scottish team; for the remaining 25 minutes Scotland produced a heroic defensive display to preserve their lead.Thanks to this truly historical result Scotland go top of group B with France dropping to third behind second-placed Italy after their victory against Ukraine, thanks to two goals scored by Antonio Di Natale.On the pitch for the Azzurri side there were two Diadora players: Barzagli and Ambrosini.Ucraine will be next Scotland’s UEFA EURO 2008 rivals on 13 October, on that match the Diadora sponsored team have the chance to achieve the first qualification from 1998. Yesterday was a great night fot other two Diadora teams: Kazakhistan draw 2-2 against Belgio while Cipro won 3-0 over SanMarino.