Italy vs. Norway: Player Grades from the Azzurri's Qualifying Win

After starting his tenure as Italian national manager with a resounding 2-0 victory against the Netherlands, Antonio Conte was looking to follow that up with a win in his first competitive match on Tuesday against Norway.

Coming in the Italians hadn't won a match in Oslo for more than 70 years—a number that is less impressive when you consider that that period only covered four matches.

Conte continued playing the strike pair of Simone Zaza and Ciro Immobile, and the former paid dividends by opening his account for his country after a quarter of an hour.  Norway took control of possession and fought for an equalizer, but the Italians neutralized its attack and didn't let it put a shot on target the entire game.

On the hour, Leonardo Bonucci thumped home a powerful header to make it 2-0 and all but salt it away.  Zaza had a chance to make the next to Italy's name really impressive, but he hit the bar with one shot and had another cleared off the line.

It wasn't the dominant display we saw in Bari, but the Azzurri still grabbed three important away points and continued to settle in under Conte's tactics.

How did the men in Savoy blue do today?  Let's take a look at how each man performed.

Grade: A

Gigi Buffon had very little to do in this match, but what he had to do he did with his usual ease and grace.

Norway failed to put a shot on target all game, but Buffon claimed several crosses and high long balls, a few of which came under pressure.

There were a few moments of Buffon's typical languid, heart-in-your-mouth distribution, but there were no mistakes, and what few moments he did need to produce he did so without difficulty.

Grade: C+

Matteo Darmian made a huge splash at the World Cup and played well against the Dutch, but he looked lacking in Oslo.

The signs were good early.  An excellent diagonal ball from Daniele De Rossi in the third minute saw him slam in a low cross, but Zaza just missed it.  Ten minutes later the Tornio man nutmegged a defender to send a through ball to Alessandro Florenzi.

But from then the wing play started to build more on the left than the right.  Darmian got few touches of the ball and what he did get he didn't do much with.  In the 52nd he committed a bad giveaway, but the subsequent shot was easily blocked away.

His removal shortly after the hour mark was probably warranted.  Worse, Manuel Pasqual and Mattia De Sciglio both played very well after his departure.  In an international game where places can be won and lost in a matter of a few seconds, Darmian may have harmed his status a bit in this match.

Grade: B-

Italy's central defenders had an intriguing game.  Individually none of them had fantastic games, but together they ended up greater than the sum of the individual performances and kept Norway from putting a shot on target the entire game.

Davide Astori was a case in point.  He had some wayward moments, like in the 20th minute when he and Bonucci somehow allowed Josh King into a dangerous area, but the subsequent shot went well off target.

Astori was equally hit-or-miss going forward.  His passing from the back was wayward, and there were times when he looked genuinely afraid to attempt to hoof the ball deep.

He also played a little too recklessly.  He was lucky not to be booked for a few heavy challenges in the first half and was given a retroactive yellow midway through the second when he upended an opponent.

He can't be given too bad a grade considering the fact that Norway ended up absolutely neutralized, but Astori is likely to be the man out when Giorgio Chiellini returns from a muscle injury, and he did nothing to push himself into the lineup.

Grade: B

Andrea Ranocchia gets a full level up from B- for a key play midway through the first half.

It came in the 27nd minute.  Norway was pushing for a quick equalizer and had just gained a free kick.  The ball was whipped in and went through the initial wave of bodies, setting up a mad scrum.  When Havard Nordtveit headed the bouncing ball toward goal, Ranocchia was right in front of it and made a textbook chest block.

It was a fantastic play in a situation where it is easy to give away a penalty on a handball.  Ranocchia had the ball lined up perfectly and was never in any danger of hitting the ball with his arm.  The ball ping-ponged around for a few more seconds before it was cleared out.

The rest of the match was up and down.  In the 33rd he cleaned up after Darmian made a bad giveaway, but moments after the second half started he made a bad pass of his own, setting up a potentially dangerous Norwegian move.

Still, his big block prevented what could have been a major momentum shift in the contest.  A favorite of Conte, Ranocchia should consider himself a lock to be in the team until Andrea Barzagli returns to try and win his spot back.

Grade: B+

Goals tend to bump up grades.

Bonucci's first half was, like the rest of his defensive mates, up and down.  His typically brilliant distribution from the back was somewhat lacking.  In the tackle the Juve man looked wobbly at times and stout in others.

But his perfectly taken goal—a thumping header that came off a short corner—gave him a shot in the arm, and he rode that confidence for the rest of the match, looking more and more assertive.

Bonucci knows how Conte's systems work and should be considered a mainstay in the team for the foreseeable future.

Grade: B

Mattia De Sciglio had one of the moments of the game when he led Simone Zaza in for the game's opener.  The rest of the first half was rather drab, but he picked up again after the interval.

The one big ball was a beautifully driven pass from the wing that was expertly dummied by Emanuele Giaccherini and then put home by Zaza.

His side was the one that got most of the buildup as the first half wore on, but De Sciglio wasn't able to produce any real threats.  His crosses were either wayward or hit the first Norwegian man they came to.

Something clicked for him when Pasqual was inserted into the game, and he moved to his natural right side.  His runs became more incisive, and he delivered a few great balls, including a driven cross that Nyland had to parry before pouncing on the loose ball.  It was all the more impressive that he hit the ball at full stretch.

Keeping De Sciglio on the right might be a worthy experiment for Conte if Pasqual plays well at the club level over the next month.  He certainly had a more consistent impact on the match from that spot than from the left.

Grade: C+

It was a little bit of a surprise to see Alessandro Florenzi in the starting XI rather than Antonio Candreva, who did so well at the World Cup and could have continued his relationship with Darmian down the right-hand side.

Florenzi did a good job of occupying space and filling passing lanes, but he was nearly nonexistent going forward and somewhat reckless in defense.  The yellow card he received at the end of the first half was absolutely deserved.

Midfield is the Roma man's natural position, but after playing primarily as a winger for Rudi Garcia he looked uncertain back in the role.

The one chance he did have to score—a header off a Zaza rebound in the 77th minute, was badly taken.  He should have simply driven it forward, but he put it across the goalmouth instead, allowing Orjan Haskjold Nyland to parry the ball away.

Not a good return to the midfield, and not a good return to international competition.

Grade: B

Daniele De Rossi didn't play badly, but he looked out of place in the position that Andrea Pirlo normally occupied at Juve.  

De Rossi is more of a destroyer/enforcer type who enhances that with some good distribution play.  That ability was on display in the third minute when he found Darmian with a fantastic long diagonal ball, but for the most part his part in the attack was extremely subdued.

He played just fine defensively and made a wonderful sliding tackle from what seemed like five yards away at the end of the game.  It was a workmanlike performance, nothing special, but it provided what was needed.

Grade: B+

Giaccherini was a favorite of Cesare Prandelli before his move to Southampton saw his playing time reduced and he lost his place for the World Cup.  Antonio Conte too had a soft spot for the player at Juventus and was disappointed when he was sold last summer, as Giaccherini mentioned to Radio Mana Sport (via Football365.com).

Added back into the side, Giaccherini showed why both coaches rated him so highly.  It was an understated performance, but when Italy broke through Norway's possession and attacked on the run it was often Giaccherini who was on the ball.

It was his layoff in the 61st minute that eventually gained the corner that brought about Italy's second goal.  In the 31st, he fired in a hard shot that Nyland was forced to parry directly into the path of Immobile.  Unfortunately, the ball was moving so fast that the striker's first touch was always going to be heavy.

And it was, of course, his dummy that led to Zaza's opener.

He was in line for an A- but was knocked down a few pegs for some wayward deliveries from the corner flag that really wasted the set piece opportunities.

Grade: A-

Simone Zaza is unlikely to forget this day.

The Sassuolo striker opened his account for his country on the quarter hour.  He latched on to a ball from De Sciglio—after a wonderful dummy from Giaccherini— and his shot cannoned off a Norwegian defender, leaving Orjan Haskjold Nyland stranded in goal.

He made a few more great moves in the first half, including a wonderful flick that sent Giaccherini through to initiate another attack in the 34th minute.

He didn't get many chances at the start of the second half, but at the end of the period he very nearly had himself a hat trick.

In the 77th minute he easily latched onto a wonderful ball from Ciro Immobile and drove straight up the middle of the field before unleashing a drive that nearly left a hole in the crossbar.  He seemingly injured his ankle on the play but came back on to continue play.

Moments after returning he got another chance to come in, beating his defender one-on-one and flicking the ball over Nyland.  The keeper looked to get the barest of touches, slowing the ball enough for one of his teammates to clear off the line.

Shortly after that he was replaced by Mattia Destro.

His grade gets knocked down a bit because of his continual struggle winning aerial balls upfield, which allowed the Norwegians to keep pressure on the Italian defense.  In spite of that slight weakness, he again put in a superb performance and is likely to keep his place in the squad when the next round of call-ups come in October.

Grade: B-

Immobile is one of those strikers who really needs to be in the right spot.  Unfortunately, in this match he never seemed to be.

While his impressive through ball gave Zaza a golden opportunity in the 77th, his other efforts weren't too dangerous.

In the 13th minute, Zaza's flicked header sent him through toward goal, but he was forced wide and his long pullback effort was intercepted.  He could have sent Darmian through to an empty wing shortly after the beginning of the second half, but his ball was exceptionally heavy and rolled out.

His one true opportunity, off a Giaccherini rebound, saw his attempt at a chest control go awry—but in his defense the ball was moving so fast it would have taken a truly exquisite touch to control it and shoot before the keeper came to claim.

He came off injured at the end of the match, and Italy will hope it was simply a painful knock rather than a true injury.  He showed his flashes today but just wasn't in the right spot to convert.

Grade: A

Pasqual started the Conte era in style for himself, notching an assist with his very first touch of the ball.  Sitting on the left wing on a short corner, Pasqual drove to the end line and drilled in a pinpoint cross.  Leonardo Bonucci slipped his marker and made short work of it.

The rest of the match was workmanlike—no mistakes, no more fireworks.  But an introduction like that is deserving of the grade he got.

Grade: Incomplete

Destro entered for a triumphant Zaza with seven minutes left and had little time to make an impact.  Norway was trying to get something from the game, and touches in the attacking third were few and far between.

He could have had a chance had Immobile been able to slip a square ball to him late, but the move was broken long before that pass, and Destro wasn't at fault for its failure.

All in all it seems unfair to give him a grade when he had so little to do.

Grade: Incomplete

Poli entered in the 86th minute for Florenzi and had too little time to do anything.  No grade is warranted.