Germans Suffer Bitter Defeat in Friendly Against Italy

In a surprisingly one-sided international friendly in Florence, Italy, the home side took early control, storming into a two-goal lead inside the first seven minutes at the Artemio Franchi stadium, home of Serie A side Fiorentina.

Alberto Gilardino pounced from close range before setting up Luca Toni for an easy second in front of his home crowd.

Daniele De Rossi's header before the break practically killed off German hopes of mounting a comeback, and Alessendro Del Piero added to their misery 11 minutes into the second half.

Robert Huth pulled one back for Germany eight minutes from time.

Germany managed just three efforts on target and their lame performance suggested they will pose little threat in this summer's tournament, even with home advantage.

Their defense, the rock upon which the great German teams of the past have been built, was exposed time after time by Italy's pace and movement.

The Italians, on the other hand, demonstrated their true quality with a flawless display that oozed class, defensive solidity complimented by a clinical forward line.

German defense caught napping

Germany's defense was caught napping at a free-kick in the fourth minute after Fabio Grosso had been fouled on the left wing.

Del Piero swung the ball over for Fabio Cannavaro whose point blank header was only parried by German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, and Gilardino snapped up the loose ball. Matters worsened for the visitors three minutes later.

Del Piero's quickly-taken free-kick surprised the German back four and sent Gilardino racing clear towards goal. The 23-year-old AC Milan striker looked up and unselfishly slid the ball across to give Toni a tap-in.

Italy might have had a third moments later when Del Piero's crossed free-kick found Gilardino unmarked, but he failed by just a few inches to make a connection.

Germany then sliced Italy open with their first genuine attack, but Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a superb save to keep out Sebastian Deisler's vicious drive.

De Rossi made it 3-0 in the 39th minute, applying the finishing touch to Mauro Camoranesi's cross as the German defense suffered another alarming lapse in concentration.

"It's inexplicable"

Limiting the damage was Germany's task now, but they leaked another goal in the 56th minute.

Gilardino's cross from the left was headed back across goal by Camoranesi and Del Piero dived low to head past a helpless Lehmann.

Huth's late strike was of little consolation for the poor Germans.

"It's inexplicable how one can fall back so quickly," said German captain Michael Ballack, who added that Italy's early lead had made his team insecure. "The mistakes we made were punished hard. Thankfully there will be another match in three weeks and then it's going to be a different German national team."

National coach Jürgen Klinsmann also said that he still had high hopes for his team.

"Of course we're disappointed -- we had high hopes and there were smashed within the first minutes," said German national coach Jürgen Klinsmann. "It was a frustrating lesson for us, but we believe in this team and we believe in the young players. We're confident that everything will work in 100 days."

But the weak performance had commentators worried about the team's readiness to succeed in the World Cup this summer at home.

"If the Italians were to really go for it, Germany would look even worse," said Reinhold Beckmann, the match's commentator for German public broadcaster ARD. "The real question is whether the German team is just too young."

The team still has three chances to prove that it is ready for the World Cup. On March 22, it will face the US, followed by matches against Japan on May 30 and Colombia on June 2. The German team opens the World Cup on June 9 against Costa Rica.

Hooligans not impressed by pope's appeal

Before the match, a message by Pope Benedict XVI called for an end to racist chanting and emblems at football matches and urged football fans to adopt "respect and dialogue" ahead of this summer's World Cup in his native Germany.

Both nations' football authorities had dedicated the match to opposing all forms of racial violence. Racism has been a serious problem in Italy's elite Seria A league this season.

The 78-year-old pontiff said he appreciated the initiative to combat racial discrimination, which he said would "consolidate awareness of the important educative function of sport in the service of solidarity and peace."

But before the match, German and Italian hooligans tried to start a fight and fired off signal rockets. According to the German Soccer Federation, 900 tickets had been sold to German fans, with 600 seated in a closed-off area. Another 600 German hooligans reportedly managed to buy tickets meant to go to Italians ahead of the match.