Ignazio Abate grabbed his first international goal to earn Italy a 1-1 draw with Germany in a fiery friendly between the two 2014 World Cup combatants at the San Siro in Milan last night.
Milan right back Abate equalised in the 27th minute with a brilliant left-foot shot following a smart one-two with Leonardo Bonucci after Mats Hummels had headed the visitors in front early on.
The game, involving two of the heavyweight contenders for the World Cup in Brazil in June, was peppered with tough tackles and Germany midfielder Sami Khedira had to be carried off with a knee injury in the second half after a rash challenge.
Thiago Motta and Toni Kroos were also lucky to stay on the field after the latter kicked out at the Italian who responded by slapping the German.
Joachim Loew’s side hit the woodwork three times through Khedira in the 17th minute, Andre Schuerrle just after the half-hour and Benedikt Howedes in the dying seconds.
Germany took the lead against the run of play in the eighth minute when Hummels beat Andrea Barzagli in the air to squeeze the ball between keeper Gianluigi Buffon and the post.
They could have doubled the lead twice in the next 10 minutes, with Hummels almost heading home a replica second and Khedira crashing a low drive against the post which almost rebounded into the net off Buffon.
Hummels then gifted the ball to the opposition and Abate swapped passes with Bonucci before firing past keeper Manuel Neuer.
At Wembley Stadium, England’s World Cup hopefuls were handed a reality check as a brace from Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez gave Chile a 2-0 win in another friendly.
Southampton duo Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez were both handed starts by Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson, while Celtic’s Fraser Forster was in goal as Frank Lampard, captain for the match, received a commemorative 100th cap.
However, apart from an early header by Manchester United’s Phil Jones, England created little of note, as a classy header by Sanchez on seven minutes and a second on the break in stoppage time proved enough to inflict a first defeat on Hodgson’s men in 2013 – and left them plenty to think about in their final preparations ahead of next summer’s trip to Brazil.