INTERNATIONAL

• Halftime report Italy vs. Sweden

  Porto, Portugal (Sports Network) - Antonio Cassano made his presence felt with a goal as Italy leads Sweden by a score of 1-0 after 45 minutes of action in a Group C match at Dragao Stadium.

  Italy, which played to a scoreless draw against Denmark in its EURO 2004 opener, began life without star striker Francesco Totti, who was suspended for three matches after spitting on a Danish player in that match on Monday.

  To fill the void created by the absence of Totti, Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni decided to call the 21-year-old Cassano into the starting lineup. The move apparently paid huge dividends in the 37th minute.

  Cassano was the beneficiary of some nice work on the right wing by Christian Panucci. The Italian defender used a nice cutback to create some space before sending a soft cross onto the head of Cassano right in front of the net for the easy goal.

  The rising Roma striker had another brilliant chance to score just before the halftime whistle as well. His header, however, was denied by Swedish keeper Andreas Isaksson.

  Both teams had some early chances, but were unable to finish. Alessandro Del Piero and Christian Vieri were consistently dangerous near the Swedish net. Isaksson, though, stopped everything that came his way in the opening 35 minutes, including an attempt from Del Piero that hit off a Denmark defender and was destined to end in the corner of the net.

  Zlatan Ibrahimovic had the best chance for Sweden in the opening half. Fredrick Ljungberg ran down the left wing and dropped a backheel pass to Ibrahimovic, who put the ball over the bar from in close as the match remained scoreless less than 15 minutes in.

  The Italians executed its game plan to perfection in the first half, attacking constantly down the wings with the help of the outside fullbacks. The tactic was evident on the Cassano goal, as it was the right fullback Panucci who set up the strike.

  Italy is in dire need of a positive result after playing to a draw with Denmark, which also beat Bulgaria earlier in the day to accrue a total of four points.

  Sweden easily won its opening match, 5-0, over Bulgaria on Monday. A win by the Swedish side would guarantee them a spot in the quarterfinals and greatly diminish any chance the Azzurri have of advancing.

  06/18 15:40:58 ET