Egypt inflicted an embarassing 1-0 defeat on the Italians in Johannesburg tonight. The Republic of Irelands Group 8 opponents had a host of chances with stand-in captain and goalkeeper Essam El Hadary called into action throughout the contest.
Mohamed Homos scored for Egypt with a 40th-minute strike to send the Egyptians hopes up. They needed to avoid defeat to have a chance of making the semi-finals. Hosni Abd Rabbou tested the Buffon with a swerving dipping corner that he did well to clear.
Italian manager Marcello Lippi kept the same side for the second half but it was clear the World Champions were struggling for a goal. Daniele De Rossi ballooned a shot over. Riccardo Montolivo and Luca Toni came on in the 60th minute. Pirlo pushed a trademark free wide in the 63rd minute.
Iaquinta looked certain to net with a well-directed header at the near post but the Egyptian keeper made a Banks style save as he was going in the opposite direction, to palm the ball away.
Italy will regard this as only a friendly warm up game for the real battles that lie ahead. It will the Republic of Ireland fans some hope that this Italian team is not the best we've ever seen.