World champions Italy made a stuttering start to their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign when they were held to a shock 1-1 draw by Lithuania in Group B on Saturday.
First-half goals by Lithuania striker Tomas Danilevicius and Italy's Filippo Inzaghi cancelled each other out and put a dampener on the party atmosphere inside the San Paolo stadium.
About 60,000 spectators had gathered to celebrate the Azzurri's first competitive outing since they beat France on penalties in the World Cup final on July 9 in Berlin.
Flashbulbs, klaxons and a deafening cheer greeted the arrival of Italy's World Cup heroes when they ran on to the pitch to start their warm-up an hour before kickoff.
The team's Naples-born captain, Fabio Cannavaro, was applauded every time he approached the stands and the World Cup trophy was taken on a lap of honour atop a blue sportscar.
But the party atmosphere almost spluttered out in the face of the visitors' determination to show they had no intention of acting as the world champions' whipping boys.
As Italy struggled to find their rhythm, Lithuania created a series of chances culminating in a 21st minute counter-attack that saw midfielder Deividas Cesnauskis cutt the ball back for Danilevicius to fire into the bottom corner of the net.
Italy's blushes were spared by Antonio Cassano, returning to the national team after a 15-month absence, who combined with Simone Perrotta down the left before rolling the ball across the face of goal for the 33-year-old Inzaghi to poke home.
CHANCES WASTED
Cassano almost added a second goal shortly before halftime when he dribbled into the area and unleashed a shot that keeper Zydrunas Karcemarskas did well to push on to his post.
Both teams went close to scoring early in the second half as Inzaghi narrowly failed to connect with a Massimo Oddo cross and Lithuania midfielder Mantas Savenas conjured up a swerving long-range effort that Italy's Gianluigi Buffon punched away.
The Italians, though, were tightening their grip on the contest.
Karcemarskas did well to jab an Inzaghi shot wide with his foot and Cassano conjured up another magic moment in the 75th minute, jinking left and right to shake off his marker before crossing low for Inzaghi, who scooped over from inside the box.
Italy's final chance came in the last minute when Tomas Tamosauskas cleared Alberto Gilardino's header off the line.
Italy's disappointing night had one extenuating circumstance.
The late start to the season caused by the legal battles from the Serie A match-fixing scandal led coach Roberto Donadoni to leave out several players, including strikers Luca Toni and Alessandro Del Piero, who he felt were short of match fitness.
Even so, it will increase pressure on the team to perform better in their next qualifier, a mouthwatering re-run of the World Cup final against France in Paris next Wednesday.
The result also raised some skeletons in Italy's closet. The last time they were crowned world champions, back in 1982, they went seven matches and 15 months before winning another match and failed to qualifying for the 1984 European Championship.
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