THE tradition was once that any Italy team returning home early from a leading tournament would be pelted with rotten tomatoes. These days, after their acrimonious departure from the European Championship finals on Tuesday night, it seems that sour grapes would be more appropriate.

It was inevitable there would be bitterness from the Italians after their worst fears were confirmed on Tuesday night, when the match between Denmark and Sweden ended dramatically in the 2-2 scoreline that was guaranteed to send the Scandinavian neighbours through at Italy’s expense. No one, though, manages rancour quite like the Italians, who finally have a new conspiracy theory to replace their controversial elimination by South Korea, the co-hosts, in the 2002 World Cup.

Uefa, European football’s governing body, has said that it is satisfied that there was “no type of collusion at all” between Denmark and Sweden, whose 89th-minute equaliser scored by Mattias Jonson rendered Italy’s 2-1 victory over Bulgaria academic. Sources at Uefa indicated last night that if any investigation is to be launched, it would be into the “undignified” comments made by the Italians, rather than into the 2-2 draw.

Italy, though, remain aghast, with players and even the highest authority in their football association fuelling the conspiracy theories. “There’s no doubt that the way the (Denmark v Sweden) game developed shows that the two teams were aiming for a draw,” Franco Carro, president of the Italian football federation and a member of Uefa’s executive committee, said. “Of course, it’s hard to find proof of that.”

Gianluigi Buffon, the goalkeeper, was similarly outraged. “Someone should be ashamed of themselves and it’s not us,” he said. “I’m shocked by that result, bitter and slightly embarrassed — not for me but for them. When there’s a lot of talk throughout the week of a possible agreement between the two squads for the game to finish with a 2-2 draw and then it happens, it makes you wonder. All those who talk about fair play and sporting values should open their eyes.”

Andrea Pirlo, the midfield player, went farther, saying that he thought that the match between Denmark and Sweden was “programmed”, but few people who witnessed the game in Oporto, in which both teams were committed to attack until stoppage time, would share that view.

“Frankly, if they had tried to put that together and succeeded in putting it together, they should get a Hollywood contract,” William Gaillard, a Uefa official, said yesterday.

If there was a controversy, it revolved around Thomas Sorensen, the Denmark goalkeeper, whose uncharacteristic handling error in the 89th minute presented Jonson the equaliser, ensuring that Sweden, rather than Denmark, won the group. “Anyone who saw the game today will know it wasn’t that type of game,” Sorensen, the Aston Villa player, said. “We wanted to win the group and we wanted to beat Sweden. Of course it was not our intention to draw. You saw how disappointed I was at the end.”

Even the Italian media, it seems, have little sympathy for their beloved national team, whose undoing was the solitary goal they scored in the matches against Denmark and Sweden, with whom they finished level on points.

“A team gone to seed. Don’t look for alibis,” read the headline of a front page commentary in La Repubblica. La Gazzetta dello Sport, the daily sports newspaper, expressed some suspicion, but added that Italy had only themselves to blame.

Intriguingly, the result between Denmark and Sweden was foretold by William Hill, the bookmakers, who shortened the odds on a 2-2 draw to 7-2, which, according to a spokesman, was the shortest they have offered on such a scoreline. “Even so, the result will cost a six-figure payout, but we have done well out of Italy’s elimination, so there is a silver lining to the cloud,” Graham Sharpe said.

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