Italy prepare well for Finnish test

Italy 2-0 Northern Ireland
Goals from Bernardo Corradi and Marco Delvecchio gave Italy a comfortable 2-0 victory against Northern Ireland in tonight's friendly international in Campobasso.

Cool finish
Corradi put Italy ahead in the 31st minute, turning in a low cross from Massimo Oddo, and then substitute Delvecchio doubled the advantage in the 67th minute with a cool finish after latching on to a superb defence-splitting pass from Antonio Di Natale.

Wales on top
Italy now face Finland away on 11 June in a game they must win to keep the pressure on Wales, the leaders of UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying Group 9. The Welsh have 12 points from four games, five more than an Italy side who have played the same number of matches. Serbia and Montenegro, who lost 2-1 to England tonight, have five points from three outings.

Goal drought
The nearest Northern Ireland came to ending their 15-month goal drought was a header in the 76th minute from Steve Jones which forced a good save out of Italy goalkeeper Francesco Toldo. Sammy McIlroy's team have not scored in eight matches with their last strike coming during a 4-1 defeat by Poland in February 2002.

Spain next
They are without a win since a 1-0 victory against Malta in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in October 2001 and are next in qualifying action against Spain next Wednesday. Northern Ireland are bottom of Group 6 after drawing one of their four matches to date. Spain lead the section with ten points.

October earthquake
The friendly was held in the southern Italian town of Campobasso to benefit the families of victims of the 31 October earthquake in a nearby village of San Giuliano di Puglia where a school collapsed, killing 30 people, all but three of them children.