Italian football champions Juventus scored two stunning late goals to deny the A-League All Stars a famous win and earn a 3-2 victory in Sydney on Sunday night.
The All Stars led twice and performed well against the Italians, who had to dig deep for the win at Sydney’s Olympic stadium after trailing 1-0 for 50 minutes.
Western Sydney Wanderers and Socceroos striker Tomi Juric drilled an unstoppable left-foot shot home from 15 metres in the 76th minute to give the All Stars a 2-1 lead.
French midfielder Paul Pogba, who was named best young player at the recent World Cup and has been the subject of transfer speculation, chested the ball down in the 88th minute and blasted a superb equaliser.
Substitute Simone Pepe then snatched a stoppage-time winner with a fierce first time drive after the All Stars failed to clear a corner.
The local side held a 1-0 lead from the ninth minute after Adelaide’s Argentinian midfielder Marcelo Carrusca clinically drilled home a pass from Brisbane’s German midfielder Thomas Broich, the A-League player of last season.
His strike was cancelled out just before the hour when towering 195cm Spanish international striker Fernando Llorente powerfully headed home a perfect left wing cross from French fullback and new recruit Patrice Evra, who played for Manchester United against the All Stars last year.
After Pogba’s equaliser, substitutes Gui Finkler, Storm Roux and David Williams had late chances to win the game for the All Stars in a frantic finish.
Juventus fielded a starting XI comprised entirely of internationals from six different nations with a combined tally of almost 650 caps.
The All Stars did not appear daunted by the expensively assembled array of talent pitted at them in front of 55,364 spectators.
They passed the ball especially well in the first half-hour, playing the passing game favoured by coach Josep Gombau at Adelaide.
In the first 35 minutes, the All Stars created the best chances.
Carrusca’s goal apart, Besart Berisha had a shot brilliantly saved by veteran Italian international goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
A-League captain Alessandro Del Piero put one shot over and smashed a free kick into the Juventus wall as he strove hard to deliver a goal in probably his final appearance in Australia.
The Italian icon received a standing ovation and hugs from some of his A-League and former Juventus teammates as he left the game in the 64th minute.
Juventus and especially striker Carlos Tevez came to life in the last few minutes of the first half, with the Argentinian going close on three occasions.
He drilled one shot wide, hit the post with another and had a third attempt saved by Eugene Galekovic.
Broich and Albert Riera had shots at goal blocked in the first four minutes of the second half, but then Juventus enjoyed a good spell prior to their equaliser.
Claudio Marchisio had a shot deflected wide and Leonardo Bonucci and Paul Pogba both headed over from corners.
Source: AAP