Italy give World Cup warning with 4-1 win over Germany

FLORENCE, Mar 2 (Reuters) Italy fired a warning to their World Cup rivals when they crushed a lacklustre Germany 4-1 at Franchi stadium in a friendly here.

First-half goals by Alberto Gilardino, Luca Toni and Daniele De Rossi effectively killed off the contest by the interval.

Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero added Italy's fourth soon after the restart to give the Azzurri their most convincing win since Marcello Lippi took over as coach in August 2004.

Defender Robert Huth grabbed a late consolation goal from a corner but Germany still suffered their heaviest defeat against the Azzurri since losing 5-2 in a friendly in 1939.

REUTERS DH RAI0416