Italy makes Quarters. 2-0 over France By Anthony J. Sperduti Italy beat an undermanned French team at Zurich's sold-out Letzigrund stadium to advance to the quarter-finals of Euro 2008. The 10-man France team played disorganized football and lost to a better team on the day. Italy advances to the quarterfinals thanks to the Netherlands win over Romania. Midfielder Andrea Pirlo put the world champions in front in the 25th minute when converting a penalty shot after Eric Abidal had brought down Luca Toni inside the area. Abidal was shown a straight red card, leaving the French with a mountain to climb following the earlier loss of Franck Ribery to injury. Italy led but were still made to sweat before Daniele De Rossi's 62nd minute free-kick took a deflection off Thierry Henry and struck the back of the net. The turn of events completed a terrible tournament for Les Bleus, who were held goalless in two games and were 4-1 losers to the Netherlands in what was termed as the ‘group of death,’ Group C. Italy, finishes second behind the Dutch in their pool and will take on Group D winners Spain. (This July issue of La Voce will be in the finishing stages for print so will not reflect that game) The Azzurri will have to do without key players Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso, both of who were booked with yellow cards in the game against France, earning suspensions. Immediately after the red card to France the Italians dominated the play until halftime. Except for a little bad luck, and poor finishing skill on the part of Luca Toni, the Italians should have scored at least two other goals in the first half. The Azzurri's failure to capitalize on their opportunities could have cost them, Les Bleus came out in the second half and came inches from scoring except for the brilliance of Gianluigi Buffon who made a diving save to his left. Then midway through the second half disaster struck for the French when De Rossi’s free-kick deflected off Henry’s left foot and past Coupet. Italy emerges the winner 2-0. The Save             The only reason why the Italians have their presents felt in the quarterfinals of the Euro Cup is because they did not lose a game they should have. Buffon shrugged off his individual heroics after his penalty save gave Italy a vital point with Romania. That tie gave the Italians the chance to advance, instead of going home.   The Juventus veteran showed why he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world as he kept out Adrian Mutu's penalty kick late in the game to make sure the world champions held onto a 1-1 draw in their second Group C encounter. A defeat against Romania would have seen the Azzurri knocked out of the tournament after their humiliating 3-0 defeat against Holland in the opener, and for that reason Buffon and his team-mates celebrated that save as though they had won the game.