In front of his own home crowd, Zaccardo scored the match winner which allows the Azzurri to qualify for the 2006 World Cup.

Italy defeated Slovenia 1-0 at the ‘La Favorita’ stadium of Palermo to book a place with the last 32 teams for the German World Cup. The winning goal was scored by GrossoZaccardo in the 78th minute, 17 minutes after substituting Gilardino. Despite such a minimal margin, Marcello Lippi’s side dominated from start to finish and managed to shoot towards goal 12 times with no reply. The Azzurri in fact wasted many chances, which left Slovenia into the match till the end. However, the Slovenians were unable to take advantage of this and had to bow down in front of a superior Italian side, who avenged the first leg defeat in style. Slovenia’s qualifying chances are now almost null as Norway defeated Moldova in the other group match. Italy still have one more match to play next week, but it will be just a formality where L

Marcello Lippi has recalled Daniele Bonera and Manuele Blasi for next week’s World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Moldova.

Parma defender Bonera makes his comeback after injury problems, while Blasi could be used as a full-back in the same position he has been adopting at Juventus over the last month. Bonera offers an alternative to Palermo's Cristian Zaccardo in the troubled right-back spot for Lippi. Blasi, meanwhile, who has impressed this season with Juve, can operate in several slots in midfield and has also featured at right-back with his club. As expected, Roma duo Antonio Cassano and Christian Panucci will not play a part in these international tests, but Vincenzo Iaquinta is called after the end of his contract dispute with Udinese. Palermo’s injured defender Andrea Barzagli and Reggina man Giandomenico Mesto are dropped. Italy will welcome Slovenia to Palermo’s Stadio Barbera on Saturday evening, while Moldova visit Lecce’s Stadio Via del Mare on Wednesday October 12. Italy lead Group 5 from Norway by five points and need just a point to secure qualification for next year's finals in Germany, a task they hope to complete on Saturday in Palermo against the Slovenians.

The squad
Goalkeepers: Morgan De Sanctis (Udinese), Angelo Peruzzi (Lazio).
Defenders: Daniele Bonera (Parma), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Fabio Grosso (Palermo), Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan), Cristian Zaccardo (Palermo), Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus)
Midfielders: Simone Barone (Palermo), Manuele Blasi (Juventus), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Aimo Diana (Sampdoria), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Forwards: Francesco Totti (AS Roma), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Alberto Gilardino (AC Milan), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Udinese), Luca Toni (Fiorentina), Christian Vieri (AC Milan)

Wednesday night’s encounter between Belarus and Italy will be one to remember for Luca Toni. An injury to Alessandro Del Piero a day before the match paved the way for him into the first eleven of Marcello Lippi’s side, and the Viola striker did not disappoint. Three goals which mean three precious points for an Italian side which had disappointed four days earlier against Scotland, and thanks to the Scottish national team, who defeated Norway 2-1 away from home, the Azzurri are just one point away from mathematical automatic qualification for the 2006 World Cup. However it was not easy as the scoreline may suggest. Belarus went ahead after just 4 minutes when Kutuzov passed the offside trap and slotted the ball past Peruzzi. This was a different Italy than the one ‘admired’ against Scotland and it was evident straight away as the Azzurri reacted well and Luca Toni equalized just one minute later when he was perfectly assisted by Camoranesi for the 1-1. The Italians did not stop there and the unstoppable Toni made it 1-2 in the 13th minute after heading in a wonderful cross by Grosso. Lippi’s side then ended the first half with a two goal advantage as in-form winger Camoranesi scored the third goal for the Azzurri with a great shot from just inside the penalty area. Toni crowned his perfect night with a hat-trick in the 54th minute when Totti sent the former Palermo striker one-on-one with the opposing keeper for the fourth goal of the Italians which definitely closed the game. Apart from the result, the Italian fans can also smile for the good performance of their team, which after a lot of criticism can now look forward to the qualification for the German World Cup.