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Italians knock out 10-man France
Pirlo: Mobbed by team-mates
Andrea Pirlo and Daniele de Rossi were on target as Italy beat 10-man France 2-0 in Group C to book their place in the last eight of Euro 2008.
Pirlo struck with a first-half penalty after Eric Abidal had been red carded for denying Luca Toni a clear goalscoring opportunity while de Rossi's deflected free-kick sealed a quarter-final clash with Spain on Sunday.
Toni should have given the Italians an early lead after being put through on goal but he pulled his shot wide from 20 yards with only Gregory Coupet to beat.
France suffered a blow when Franck Ribery was carried off with an Achilles injury after just seven minutes, with Italy continuing to make all the running - Claude Makelele having to clear Christian Panucci's header off the line.
Roberto Donadoni's men deservedly took the lead in the 24th minute, however, when Toni again got in behind the French defence only for Abidal to trip the Bayern Munich man - Abidal saw red and Pirlo dispatched the spot-kick in some style.
Toni squandered three chances in as many minutes as Italy drove forward in search of a second but France showed they could still be a threat when Thierry Henry broke clear but the Barcelona frontman pulled his shot across goal.
Fabio Grosso curled a free-kick against the post a minute before the break though as the Italians once again asserted their dominance on the game.
France came out fired up at the start of the second period, with Karim Benzema blasting over the bar from 20 yards and Henry twice forcing Gianluigi Buffon into regulation saves.
But just when it looked as if Les Bleus could force their way back into the game Italy grabbed their second in the 62nd minute when de Rossi's 35-yard free-kick took a big deflection off Henry, sending Coupet the wrong way.
Buffon pulled off a brilliant save to deny Benzema as, to their credit, France continued to battle but Italy comfortably held out to claim victory.
There was some bad news for the Italians, however, with Pirlo and Rino Gattuso both receiving bookings that will force them out of Sunday's quarter-final.
