Shorthanded Italy Overpowers Norway

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey -- Italy played shorthanded, but won. And, South Korea and Bolivia battled to a draw in the first scoreless match of this World Cup.The Italians, in a must-win situation, did precisely that at the World Cup on Thursday, beating Norway, 1-0. They did it with grit and guile and with a backup goalkeeper. The Cameroon team, meanwhile, dropped talk of boycotting Friday's game against Brazil. The players have not been paid for months and they want their money. But they opted to show up at the game anyway. Italy 1, Norway 0. Not surprisingly, the Italians won a World Cup game Thursday, but what was positively stunning was the way they did it. They played most of the game without Roberto Baggio, their star, and at a one-man disadvantage. But they still managed to beat slow-footed Norway, 1-0, on a header in the 69th minute by Dino Baggio, no relation to Roberto. Italy got into trouble in a hurry when goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca received a red card and was dismissed from the game in the 21st minute for both intentionally touching the ball outside the penalty box and tripping. Luca Marchegiani came into the nets, but his entrance required Italy to remove one man from the field. Coach Arrigo Sacchi, already under fire in the Italian press following a 1-0 setback to Ireland, took out Baggio. Flag-waving Italian rooters who dominated the huge Giants Stadium crowd of 74,264 were shocked as the small, pony-tailed player walked off. But Sacchi had his reasons. "The situation required more movement and he has an injury. I wanted to save him and save the team," he said, referring to the next game against Mexico. That crucial game will be played Tuesday in Washington, and Baggio surely will play. He had started up front today with Giuseppe Signori and Pierlugi Casiraghi, as Sacchi shifted from two to three forwards for the Norwegians, who play with five men back. Signori, who is playing well, responded by putting his free kick onto Dino Baggio's head for Italy's badly needed victory worth three points in the wide-open Group E. Bolivia 0, South Korea 0. At Foxboro Stadium outside Boston, Bolivia and South Korea played to a draw Thursday in a Group C game, leaving both teams winless in World Cup finals. South Korea had two late scoring chances denied after Bolivian left defender Luis Cristaldo was ejected seven minutes from time. Scottish referee Leslie Mottram sent Cristaldo off the field after he floored Kim Pan Keun on the right wing. It was Cristaldo's second cautionable offense of the match.Bolivia mostly had the better of play, but sloppy finishing and South Korea's disciplined defense kept them scoreless. In end-to-end play, South Korea's forwards used counterattacks to force mistakes in Bolivia's shaky defense. South Korea, which faces Germany in its last first-round game Monday, retained its chance of advancing to the second round despite failing to win its easiest game. (Washington Post, AP)