Unexpected Defeat of Italy Against Croatia - 2002-06-08

An unexpected surprise occurred in Ibaraki, Japan during the 2002 World Cup. The Italian national football team, considered one of the contenders for the championship title, suffered a 2-1 defeat in a tough match against Croatia. Italy, which had presented itself as a title contender in its first game, faced its first loss since the 1994 World Cup in this Group G match against the resilient Croatian team. Italy took the lead in the 55th minute with a header goal from Christian Vieri, making it 1-0 against the team that finished third in the 1998 World Cup. While signs pointed to an imminent victory for Italy, the Croatian team adopted a fully offensive strategy and managed to score two goals within a span of three minutes, turning the game around. The first Croatian goal came in the 73rd minute from Ivica Olic, a substitute player, equalizing the score against Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Just three minutes later, while Italy was still in shock from conceding the goal, Milan Rapaic scored Croatia's second goal. After this goal, Italy put heavy pressure on the Croatian goal, but Croatia's tough defense prevented any change in the match's outcome. In the dying moments of stoppage time, Italy managed to put the ball in the Croatian net, but the referee disallowed the goal as one of the linesmen indicated that Italian international Filippo Inzaghi had apparently committed a foul. Today's match result creates a kind of uncertainty in this group, as three teams—Italy, Mexico, and Croatia—each have 3 points at the top of the table. Italy will face Mexico in their next match, while Croatia will go up against the winless Ecuador team.