[dukeofdavinci]

Lecce host Italy-Montenegro Wednesday 16 July, 2008

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Italy’s World Cup qualifier against Montenegro in October will be played at Lecce’s Stadio Via del Mare.

The match on October 15 will be the fourth in Group 8 – the second on home turf – in the race to qualify for the 2010 tournament in South Africa.


The decision to name Lecce as hosts comes just after their promotion to Serie A via the play-offs.


It is going to be the fourth time the senior Nazionale has played in this city, but only the second competitive encounter.


Their record here is not exactly impressive, as Italy lost 2-1 to Norway in a friendly on September 25, 1985.


On November 13, 1999 they repeated the setback, this time falling 3-1 to Belgium.


The Azzurri have played a World Cup qualifier at the Via del Mare before, beating Moldova 2-1 on October 12, 2005.


Alberto Gilardino and Christian Vieri scored in that game, the new Fiorentina striker snatching an 85th-minute winner.


The 2010 World Cup qualifiers kick off for Italy in Cyprus on September 6 followed by a game with Georgia four days later at the Stadio Friuli in Udine.

4th game on the grp.