A 2-0 win in Montenegro was seen as the perfect tonic for world champions Italy ahead of last week's home clash with Ireland - the Azzurri's main challengers in Group Eight.
Victory over the team led by Giovanni Trapattoni would have put Italy within sight of a place in next year's finals, but Wednesday's qualifier didn't go according to plan for Marcello Lippi.
German referee Wolfgang Stark's decision to send off Giampaolo Pazzini after only four minutes sparked controversy.
Pazzini's elbowing looked accidental and, coming so early in the match, the referee perhaps erred in giving the Sampdoria forward a straight red card.
But, this incident aside, Italy again showed that they still have a long way to go.
For starters, Italy had also dropped points when drawing 0-0 against Bulgaria last October.
Beyond doubt, Bulgaria and Ireland are Italy's strongest opponents in an otherwise low-key qualifying group.
Italy's true potential vis-à-vis the likes of Brazil, Argentina, England, Holland and European champions Spain, can't be properly assessed in matches against the likes of modest Cyprus and Georgia.
It is true that Pazzini's sending-off had a huge bearing on the outcome of the qualifier in Bari, but it is equally true that Italy also benefited from some erroneous decisions by the German official later on in the match.
Giorgio Chiellini and Fabio Cannavaro were lucky not to have been dismissed and Stark also denied Ireland what looked like a clear penalty following a foul by goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Lippi knows only too well that it is useless crying over spilt milk. Italy currently lead the group with 14 points, two ahead of Ireland.
Needless to say that Italy's away fixture against Ireland will probably decide the outcome of the qualification issue. The Azzurri are notoriously slow starters and this game could represent a tough hurdle for them.
Italy's remaining commitments, away to Georgia (away) and home to Bulgaria and Cyprus are all winnable fixtures though.
In two months' time, Italy will compete in the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, where they will cross swords with USA, Egypt and Brazil in Group B.
This tournament is intended as a dress-rehearsal for next year's World Cup finals.
One augurs that Lippi will use the Confederations Cup to try more players who can eventually replace the 'old guard'.
Players like Luca Toni, Fabio Grosso, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluca Zambrotta were at the peak of their careers three years ago but they will soon be past their best.
The Serie A has lately unveiled new stars in the shape of Sergio Floccari (Atalanta), Davide Santon (Inter), Ignazio Abate (Torino), Marco Motta (Roma), Pazzini (Sampdoria), Domenico Criscito and Salvatore Bocchetti (both Genoa), Davide Biondini and Robert Acquafresca (Cagliari).
There are more bright prospects in Italian football and from now till the end of next season, other promising youngsters are expected to grab the attention.
We hope that next year, the leading teams in Italy will give more prominence and exposure to young players because they need to play to blossom and in so doing, the national team will also benefit.
Serie A statistics
0 points dropped by Genoa, Fiorentina and Roma, all three vying for a Champions League berth. Fiorentina came from a goal down to beat Atalanta in Bergamo. This was Fiorentina's second straight win following the 1-0 success over Siena. Genoa left it late to beat bottom side Reggina 1-0. Genoa's third straight win coincided with Reggina's 17th winless game in a row (nine draws and eight defeats). Relegation-threatened Bologna proved a hard nut to crack for Roma but, in the end, they succumbed to a third straight defeat. Before Sunday, Roma were coming from three consecutive draws and a heavy home defeat vs Juventus (1-4).
3 penalties were awarded by referees last weekend. Roma captain Francesco Totti transformed two of them. Fiorentina's upcoming Stevan Jovetic started the Viola's comeback vs Atalanta by scoring from the spot in a 2-1 win. Fiorentina were awarded the penalty after Atalanta defender Federico Peluso committed a professional foul inside the box and was sent off. Six players, Ronaldinho (Milan), German Denis (Napoli), Massimo Marazzina (Bologna), Gianvito Plasmati (Atalanta), Alessandro Matri (Cagliari) and Thiago Motta (Genoa), came off the subs' bench and found the back of the net.
3rd defeat on the trot (vs Chievo 0-3, Catania 0-1 and Siena 0-2) for troubled Lazio as Delio Rossi's side conceded a goal in each half to go down to Siena for the fourth time in six visits to Tuscany. Against Sampdoria, Napoli came from the death and salvaged a draw. This was Napoli's third successive draw. They are winless in their last 12 outings (five draws and seven defeats).
4th straight defeat (vs Juventus 0-1, Atalanta 0-2, Sampdoria 1-3 and Palermo 0-1) for struggling Torino as the Maroons were beaten by Palermo 1-0. The Sicilians were the better side albeit Giancarlo Camolese's Torino had their moments, too, particularly towards the end of the game. All Torino have to show from their most recent four visits to the Renzo Barbera stadium is a 1-1 draw in September 2007. Palermo have now won three of their last four outings.
9 points separate leaders Inter from nearest pursuers Juventus after the weekend's fixtures. Juve were far from their best as they were held 3-3 at home by a determined Chievo side. This was Chievo's first positive result in six visits to Turin and Juve's first draw after five straight wins. Overall, Juve are undefeated in their last eight games (six wins and two draws) whereas Chievo have stretched their positive streak to five games (three wins and two draws).
24 goals were scored on the 30th day, 14 coming from the hosts and the remaining 10 from the visitors. Total number of goals scored so far is 735. Andrea Mantovani (Chievo) and Mauricio Isla (Udinese) committed the only two own goals of the day. Chievo's Sergio Pellissier, a Torino youth product, grabbed a hat-trick that dented Juve's scudetto chances. Sampdoria midfielder Angelo Palombo struck a brace but his goals were not enough to help his team beat Napoli. The same cannot be said of Francesco Totti. His two perfect penalty executions helped Roma see off Bologna. Despite not being on target for their respective teams last weekend, Marco Di Vaio (Bologna) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter) still lead the scorers' list with 19 goals each.