MATCH 21 REPORT : UNBEATEN ITALY BOW OUT

Winner not enough
A Martin Petrov penalty had given Plamen Markov's side the lead on the stroke of half-time and although Simone Perrotta equalised three minutes after half-time, Sweden's late equaliser in Porto made Antonio Cassano's last-gasp winner academic.

Corradi in
There was a surprise in the Italian lineup with Christian Vieri listed among the substitutes. The forward had been struggling with a knee injury before the game, and Bernardo Corradi came in for his first start of the tournament joining Cassano and Alessandro Del Piero in attack. As expected, Marco Materazzi and Stefano Fiore deputised for the suspended Fabio Cannavaro and Gennaro Gattuso at centre-back and left midfield respectively.

Bulgarian changes
Bulgaria, already eliminated after defeats by Sweden and Denmark, brought four players in for their first start of the finals. Milen Petkov replaced suspended captain Stilian Petrov in central midfield and the back four was completely revamped with Daniel Borimirov coming in for Vladimir Ivanov at right-back alongside Zlatomir Zagorcic and Predrag Pazin in the centre. Ilian Stoianov slotted in at left-back while Zdravko Lazarov was handed a role on the right side of midfield with Georgi Peev on the bench.

Del Piero shoots wide
In a cagey opening, Italy enjoyed the bulk of possession without creating any openings and Bulgaria were the first to threaten on 13 minutes. Martin Petrov picked up a loose ball but his shot was saved by Gianluigi Buffon. From the resulting corner, Italy broke upfield and Corradi was denied by Zdravko Zdravkov, Del Piero putting the rebound wide.

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