Italy (11) v (1) Philippines

Italy (11) v (1) Philippines

By Daniel Wood

AN ACTION-packed match between Italy and the Philippines finished in an 11-1 win for the Italians.

Both teams fought tooth and nail on the second day at the Melbourne pitch but, in the end, Italy's powering offence proved insurmountable for the resilient Philippines' team.

Italy came out firing with an early goal from De Souza. This was promptly followed by another goal from Italy's forward line.

The Philippines looked set to respond to Italy's early lead but a well-timed interception gave De Souza a chance to increase Italy's lead to three goals.

A terrific unexpected save from the Philippines' goalkeeper, Lagundino, had the crowd cheering and denied Italy a four-goal buffer. Unfortunately for the  Philippines, the celebration was short-lived as Italy delivered a power shot to make the score 4-0.

Italy took a long shot which rebounded off the crossbar only to be slammed straight to the back of the net by a hard, right strike, putting them five goals clear.

Italy began to ramp up the pressure on the Philippines defence but some swift footwork kept the encroaching Italians at bay.

The Philippines’ confidence began to grow but a fumble by the goalkeeper allowed Italy to continue to inch ahead.

Not to be deterred, the Philippines pushed forward and pulled off a great play that could have easily ended in a goal if not for the honed reflexes of the Italian goalkeeper, Diomande. Italy scored again seconds before the half-time whistle to make the score 7-0.

The Philippines opened the second half looking strong and managing to put a temporary halt to Italy's relentless attacks.

The Philippines failed to convert a penalty that led to a quickly executed play by the Italians that gave them yet another goal and an even more commanding lead.

The Philippines' goalkeeper was bombarded by shots but pulled off some amazing saves, much to the dismay of the dominating Italians.

Late in the match a miscommunication between player and goalkeeper resulted in an own goal by Italy. The Philippines were finally on the scoreboard but a determined Italy had learned their lesson and scored yet another goal seconds before the final whistle, further inflating the one sided scoreline.

Photos: Photoworx