France 0

Italy 2

ANDREW DAMPF

AP sports writer

Italy advanced to the quarter-finals of the European Championship with a 2-0 win over 10-man France yesterday.

Andrea Pirlo put Italy in front at Letzigrund Stadium with a penalty in the 25th minute after Eric Abidal was sent off for a foul on Luca Toni, and Daniele De Rossi made it 2-0 with a deflected free kick in the 62nd.

Italy will next face Group D winners Spain on Sunday in Vienna, although they will be without key midfielders Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso after the pair got their second yellow cards of the tournament.

It was Italy's first win over France without the help of a penalty shoot-out in 30 years, the last occasion being a 2-1 win at the 1978 World Cup.

But the Italians still needed help from the Netherlands to be sure of their place in the next round, getting it when the Dutch beat Romania 2-0 in the other Group C match. The Netherlands won the group with a maximum nine points and Italy finished second with four. Romania were eliminated with two points and France finished last with just one.

Italy coach Roberto Donadoni used to play with Netherlands manager Marco van Basten at AC Milan, and said he had always been confident the Dutch would play their best, despite having already won the group.

"I didn't have any doubts. I know Van Basten," Donadoni said. "I know what he's made of. When they asked me to call him, it seemed useless, and disrespectful to him."

France were always at a disadvantage from the seventh minute when winger Franck Ribery collapsed before being carried off with an injury to his left leg.

That robbed France of perhaps its greatest attacking threat and Italy got the chance to take control when Toni stretched acrobatically to control a long pass from over his head with the tip of his foot, luring Abidal into pulling him down from behind.

Abidal was sent from the field and Pirlo dispatched the kick emphatically.

Italy knew that they would go through so long as they and the Netherlands avoided defeat, so news of the Dutch's 54th-minute opener against Romania sent fans wild when it reached the Letzigrund Stadium.

And their celebrations became even more fevered when Italy got another bit of good fortune in the second half. De Rossi's free kick deflected past goalkeeper Gregory Coupet and into the net off Thierry Henry, who stuck out his boot from his position at the end of France's defensive wall.

"For me this team has a future. I am proud of what they did," France coach Raymond Domenech said. "This team has real potential, players who can hope to have a big future."

A light rain shortly before kickoff had ceased and clouds came in to obscure a large rainbow hanging over the field. But the wet field maybe helped Italy's passing game, and the Italians looked far stronger than they had in their previous two matches.

Taking advantage of their man advantage, Italy produced three consecutive chances in the 27th, 28th and 30th. First, De Rossi's powerful drive from beyond the area sailed high, then Toni missed wide twice from inside the area as France struggled to contain the Bayern Munich forward.

France resorted to the counterattack, with Henry missing wide in the 34th and Benzema banging a free kick off Italy's wall in the 38th.

Italy, who are attempting to become only the second team after France to follow a World Cup victory with a European Championship title, nearly scored again when Fabio Grosso curled a free kick around a wall in the 44th. Coupet stretched out to deflect the shot from his Lyon teammate off the post.

* * *

France: Gregory Coupet, Francois Clerc, Eric Abidal, William Gallas, Patrice Evra, Sidney Govou (Nicolas Anelka, 66), Claude Makelele, Jeremy Toulalan, Franck Ribery (Samir Nasri, 10; Jean-Alain Boumsong, 26), Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema.

Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluca Zambrotta, Christian Panucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Fabio Grosso, Daniele De Rossi, Andrea Pirlo (Massimo Ambrosini, 55), Gennaro Gattuso (Alberto Aquilani, 82), Simone Perrotta (Mauro Camoranesi, 64), Antonio Cassano, Luca Toni.

Scorers: Pirlo 25, De Rossi 62

Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia)