Soccer: Armenia Undone by Perfect Pirlo Performance – World Cup Qual

Sport Pulse
Oct 12 2012

Armenia Undone by Perfect Pirlo Performance – World Cup Qualifier Match Report

Date: 12 October 2012

Venue: Hzradan Stadium

Capacity: 53,849

Referee: Strahonja

Score: 1-3

Scorers: Pirlo(PK), Mkhitaryan, De Rossi, Osvaldo

Yellow Cards: Mkoyan, Bonucci, Giovinco, Lazarian, Manucharyan, Aleksanyan,

Red Cards: None.

Lineups: –

Armenia – Berezovskiy, Mkoyan, Arzumanyan, Aleksanyan, Ozbiliz,
Yedigaryan, Edigaryan(Manucharyan 65′), Mkhitaryan, Lazarian,
Manoyan(Sarkisov 77′), Movsisyan

Italy – Buffon, Barzagli, Criscito, Bonucci, Pirlo(Giaccherini 74′),
Maggio, Marchisio, De Rossi, Montolivo(Candreva 88′), Giovinco(El
Shaaraway 60′)

Full Match Report:

The Italians may have not played their best game, or even a good game,
but they will be bringing home the three points after toppling Armenia
at home. The Armenian side played well for being without two mainstays
in the lineup for disciplinary action and the loss of defender Sargis
Hovsepyan to retirement, finding an equalizer to Andrea Pirlo’s
penalty kick after just 27 minutes. However, this proved to be the
only goal for the dark horses of the group, and the Azzuri remain on
top of UEFA Group B qualification.

Andrea Pirlo had a wonderful showing for the away side, notching a
penalty kick, an assist, and a number of great chances. Daniele De
Rossi also found the back of the net, as well as setting up a late
goal for Osvaldo. However, it was the youngster, Stephan El Shaaraway,
who made his WC debut in superb fashion. While he did not score, the
Milan striker was a constant threat to the Armenian defense after
being introduced in the 60th minute. We can expect a great deal more
from this player in the coming months.

Man of the match:

Andrea Pirlo – Scoring a penalty, assisting a goal, and creating
countless chances throughout the night give the midfield maestro man
of the match honors.

Flop of the match:

Sebastian Giovinco – While the Juventus man’s pace was troublesome for
a while, Armenia eventually shut him down, and he provided little to
the match before being removed to make way for youngster Stephan El
Shaaraway.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress