A much tougher test for Portugal against the top team Italy, although they were soon into their stride as Thorben was forced into a double save from Barna and Fulop. He could do nothing moments later as Simon skipped past Jordan and played in Soma. He timed his cross perfectly for Fulop to direct home for a great opening goal. At the other end Till's corner found Sam who returned the ball into the danger area but Benoit cleared well and the Reds broke upfield. Simon exchanged passes with Fulop before firing home right-footed... 2-0! Till was on fine form and hit a fantastic long-range shot off the underside of the bar. Alex Hingl followed up with a looping header which Kostya directed goalwards but a combination of Glenn and Benoit kept the ball from crossing the line... just! The Blues were on top and netted their first moments later. Hingl was the architect with a beautifully weighted right-foot pass behind the defence and Till's first-time finish found the bottom left-hand corner for a great goal. Portugal were rattled and as Simon broke through Fabrizio paniced a little and his attempted clearace sliced up into the air and over Glenn into the roof of the net for the equaliser!! Simon upped the tempo for the Reds and Jordan did well to clear a goalbound shot before Soma blasted wide. Just before the break Portugal regained the lead as Italy's defence failed to clear a corner and it was no surprise that Simon was first to react as he spun and lashed the ball home.

As the Blues poured forward they were leaving themselves open to the counter attack. Eventually they were punished as Hingl, Till and Kostya all failed to get a shot off and a long ball clear found Simon, who danced around the onrushing Thorben before allowing Soma to finish into the empty net. Hingl had a great right-foot volley fly over and with the last kick Sam's long free-kick missed everybody and the post by inches.

After being treated to 6 goals in each of the previous two games, Italy won this crazy match by the odd goal in 9!!! Italy had all the ball and all the chances as Hurley, Till, Simon, Hingl, Simon again, Till again, Till again, Hurley again and Hingl again all somehow failed to convert due to wasteful finishing and fantastic goalkeeping from Maik!!! So after creating 9 great chances and taking none of them Italy found themselves two down seconds later as first Max placed home the rebound after Thorben had come from his goal to save from Lars, and then Lars stretched to tap home Otto's perfect low cross to the back post. Half-time... 2-0 Holland!!!

It took four minutes for the Blues to get going after the break and it was Till who finally got the better of Maik as the keeper parried Sam's cross under pressure and the winger was there to pounce. Till then tested Maik with a long-range shot but the keeper pushed it onto the bar and over. Hurley's earlier frustrations were erased as he cut inside and drilled a low shot into the near corner for the equaliser. The Oranje were there for the taking and Hurley and Till added one more each before combining for Hurley's hat-trick to leave the score at 5-2 with 3 minutes to play. Lars gave Holland some hope as he bundled Otto's cross over the line and then Max and Seb (twice) came close as Italy waited for the final whistle. The next whistle though was for a penalty as Otto's cross was pushed out by Thorben onto Kostya's arm and Lars grabbed his hat-trick from the spot. Unfortunately for the Oranje it was too little too late and Italy hung on to keep within touching distance of Portugal going into the last matchday. Holland cannot do better than second place but will have to win their last two games to have a chance of that.