Inzaghi and Vieri on target in Italy win

By Simon Evans

Tokyo - First-half goals from Filippo Inzaghi and Christian Vieri gave Italy a 2-1 win over Japanese champions Kashima Antlers in a World Cup warm-up game on Sunday.

But Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni was forced to take off Inzaghi in the 29th minute, with the striker appearing to suffer a thigh injury.

Although still looking short of full fitness, Italy playmaker Francesco Totti returned to action in the game after over a month out with a thigh injury, showing some neat touches before being replaced by Alessandro Del Piero at the interval.

Tomoyuki Hirase pulled a goal back for Antlers in the 54th minute to please an enthusiastic 53,383 crowd, and the J-League side, beaten 5-1 by Argentina in midweek, certainly ensured a full work-out for Italy, forcing two good saves out of Francesco Toldo in the latter stages.

Trapattoni opted to play with a back four rather than his usual defensive trio, with Christian Panucci slotting in on the right and Paolo Maldini moving across to an orthodox left-back role.

The experiment left Italy's three-man midfield outnumbered at times and there was often a lack of width, with Gianluca Zambrotta tucked into central midfield rather than occupying his usually position wide on the right.

But Trapattoni will have been pleased to see his side look in better physical shape than they did in last week's 1-0 defeat by the Czech Republic.

The 'Azzurri' have spent most of the week at their training camp in Sendai after a gruelling end to the Serie A season and the result was a sharper, if still far from peak, performance.

Italy went ahead in the 13th minute when Kashima keeper Shinichi Shuto failed to reach a Totti corner and Inzaghi headed in at the back post.

But Inzaghi picked up a knock as he challenged for the header and briefly left the pitch for treatment before returning to the fray.

Italy doubled their lead in the 23rd minute with a neatly worked goal, Vieri finishing confidently after Gianluca Zambrotta had found Inzaghi who set up his strike partner with a well-weighted pass.

But Inzaghi, having been unable to run off his injury, went off in the 29th minute to be replaced by Vincenzo Montella.

Trapattoni brought on Alessandro Del Piero at the break for Totti, asking him to play just behind the front two - a position he has recently said he is not keen to play in.

The Italy coach also swapped his goalkeepers at the interval giving Francesco Toldo a run out in place of first-choice Gianluigi Buffon.

Kashima pulled a goal back in the 54th minute when Fabio Cannavaro's weak attempted clearance fell to Hirase who drove the ball past Toldo.

Panucci should have found the target with a header from a Zambrotta cross and Montella also headed wide after some skillful work from Del Piero on the right.

Toldo was twice forced into action though to keep out a fierce shot from Kashima's Brazilian defender Augusto and a Hirase header, but Damiano Tommasi should have added a third for Italy when he shot wide after more good approach play from Del Piero.

Right at the end substitute Marco Materazzi's a header from a Del Piero corner was pushed against the post by Shuto.