TURIN, 9 September 2009 - South Africa is near, within reach. The Italian squad needs to bring home just one more point from their match in Dublin against Ireland, whose coach watched tonight's game from the stands at the Olimpico in Turin. Thanks to the four-point lead in the group stage with just two games left in the qualifying round, two possible results would work for the Azzurri when playing on the other side of the Channel, and if things don't go well for them, there is always the Cyprus safety net. A victory in Parma would guarantee first place in the group and thus the ticket to the 2010 World Cup. It's an ideal situation, due to a finally convincing win by the Azzurri (2-0) over Bulgaria, courtesy of Grosso and Iaquinta. Lippi made a good decision by placing Pirlo at the top of the midfield diamond and the team reaped the fruits of that choice tonight. Throwing in Marchisio and Grosso (unlike he did in Tbilisi), proved to be a brilliant decision. Of course, there is always Buffon, who when the score was 1-0, he pulled one of his star saves—one of those that seems too good to be true. Italy did not let their guard down when it came to goaltending and the Italian net has been undefeated for the last three matches.

GROSSO IS IN — Wearing the world champion shirt that brought back memories of Germany in front of his new public at the Olimpico that hasn't seen him play for Juventus yet, Grosso gave Italy the lead with a powerful left volley, finishing in a calibrated pass from Pirlo. It was the fourth goal with the National side for the former Lyon player and it marked his role tonight as a sprinter for the Azzurri, who were able to play with a good tempo and quality moves thanks to a strong midfield core. Iaquinta could have sealed the deal for the Azzurri but missed a goal on an empty net after an assist from Gilardino. The first 25 minutes of play were a monologue from the Italians.

FIERCE BUFFON — After that, Bulgaria pushed hard by surprise and unexpectedly. However, Buffon looked like a stuntman in an American film. The Italian keeper—one of the seven Juventus players in tonight's starting line-up—dove to the left to deny a very close call by Stiliyan Petrov and sent out a ball that was claimed as a goal by the Bulgarians. It was a miracle to match the one in Tbilisi. Just like a goal. Bulgaria insisted with another cannonball from Stiliyan Petrov that went out on the side. That was all.

ITALY CLOSED THE ACCOUNT — The Azzurri actually understood that it wasn't a good idea to hold onto a narrow advantage until the final minutes because one never knows, and they eagerly tried for a second goal. Iaquinta made everyone nervous when he had a bad header right by the goal, but he was always there. He was the one who gave Italy the final lead (2-0) after a move with Gilardino, the fifth midfielder for the Azzurri today, with a heavy presence like he had against Ireland. At the half, the Italian squad was sent to the locker-room amidst applause from the fans, something they weren't used to anymore.

HARMLESS BULGARIANS — The Bulgarians were now in control, but they didn't pose much of a threat to the Italians. The Azzurri only feared a header from Sarmov and a long-distance shot from Bojinov, another former Juventus player. The only bad news for Italy came with Cannavaro's booking; he will have to sit out the match against Ireland. However, it was only a small spot in an encouraging performance, as clearly stated by the chants from the 'pro-Del Piero' fans. Italy won and played well—which is something we wanted to say for a while now—and tagged the Bulgarian team as the first squad eliminated in the qualifying stage. South Africa is just around the corner.
from our correspondent Riccardo Pratesi