Gäste » made an immediate impact with a through ball to Balotelli,

PERUGIA, Italy -- Italy was held to a 1-1 draw by Luxembourg on Wednesday in its final World Cup warm-up match before leaving for Brazil, with forward Mario Balotelli looking in impressive form. Claudio Marchisio headed Italy in front in the ninth minute after a splendid assist from Balotelli but Maxime Chanot levelled five minutes from time. It was Italys seventh successive match without a win, although the six draws and a defeat to Spain have all happened after securing qualification for the World Cup. "This test is absolutely not a failure, we tried to do things we had practiced in training," Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said. "But its clear we have to improve. But we had to try certain things as we have very few matches. "We know that we werent brilliant, but we leave with the knowledge that we can have a great World Cup." Prandelli had said Balotelli would amaze with his improved form and the AC Milan forward was involved in most of the Azzurris best moves. He went close to scoring on several occasions and hit the crossbar as Italy dominated. Italy departs on Thursday and will play Brazilian club Fluminense in a final friendly match on June 8, six days before kicking off its World Cup campaign against England in Manaus. Prandellis side also faces Costa Rica and Uruguay in Group D. Italy started brightly and took an early lead when Marchisio picked out Balotelli from near the halfway line. The forward controlled the ball perfectly before crossing for the onrushing Marchisio to head home from close range. Balotelli almost doubled Italys advantage shortly afterward but a last-ditch tackle saw his effort deflected over the bar. The tempo slowed down somewhat but Italy should have extended its lead two minutes before halftime, when free-kick specialist Andrea Pirlo saw his effort parried with a diving save by Anthony Moris and Balotelli fired just wide of the left upright as the moved continued. Moments earlier, Antonio Candreva had also fired narrowly wide. Balotelli had another chance just after the interval when he sent a snapshot past the far post. Antonio Cassano came off the bench for only his second appearance since the European Championship final in 2012 and he almost made an immediate impact with a through ball to Balotelli, who bamboozled two players before evading a tackle from a third as he unleashed a shot which crashed off the crossbar. Candreva also hit the crossbar moments later. Luxembourg had barely troubled Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon but levelled in the final minutes when Chanot headed home Mario Mutschs corner. Ignazio Abate almost immediately restored Italys advantage but was denied by Moris. Fake Penguins Jerseys . Helwani said that Weidman has been dealing with recurring swelling and pain in his knees related to torn meniscus he suffered as a teenager and the problems came to a head last week when he suffered prolonged swelling and pain in his left knee, resulting in the decision to undergo an arthroscopic scope procedure to clean up the tear in both knees. Pittsburgh Penguins Shirts . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/ . Switzerland faces Belgium or Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals in April. Serbia dropped into the World Group playoffs in September. A confident Chiudinelli and Lammer defeated veteran doubles player Zimonjic and young Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2. Penguins Jerseys 2020 . -- Those impatient for the Stanley Cup to return to Canada will have just one team to root for in the NHL playoffs -- the Montreal Canadiens. Stitched Penguins Jerseys . -- First baseman Carlos Pena and outfielder Brennan Boesch have signed minor league deals with the Los Angeles Angels.East Lansing, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Texas Southern did not take its first lead of the game until there was only 1:26 remaining in regulation. The Tigers were then able to force overtime and pull off a 71-64 upset win over No. 25 Michigan State on Saturday. Jason Carters 3-pointer capped a 7-0 Texas Southern run to give it a 53-52 lead, and his bucket the next possession helped push the game to overtime. Texas Southern (2-8) hit 12 free throws in the extra session to record its second win of the season. Chris Thomas led all scorers with 22 points for the Tigers, while Malcolm Riley added 20 off the bench. The Spartans (8-4) got 17 points and 10 rebounds from Matt Costello, and Denzel Valentine chipped in 15. Michigan State was just 4-of-21 from long distance. What we are trying to do is be all in every possession, said Tigers coach Mike Davis. Every possession we need to block out. I thought that tonight we did that. I thought Michigan State just came out and kind of played. They missed some shots early, and they just kept missing shots. After Carters layup with 29 seconds left, the Spartans were given a great opportunity to win the game in regulation. However, Javon Bess only made 1- of-2 at the line, and the game went to overtime after the Tigers turned the ball over as time expired. Michigan State made more shots from the floor in overtime than Texas Southern, but the Tigers hit enough free throws to build up a lead that got as large as nine points. The Spartans never led in overtime and sshot just 30.dddddddddddd8 percent from the field. I have to give Mike Davis all the credit in the world, said Spartans coach Tom Izzo. His kids played harder than us, they shot better than us, they rebounded the ball not quite as well as us, they turned us over more, they made big plays, they made their free throws. The Spartans led by as much as eight in the first half but both times they took that eight-point lead, Thomas responded with a bucket on the other hand. Thomas led all scorers at the half with 10 points as Michigan State took a 30-25 lead into the locker room. Gavin Schilling hit both of Michigan States first two baskets in the second half with the second giving the Spartans a 34-27 lead 2 1/2 minutes after the break. The Tigers proceeded to go on their biggest run of the game to tie it up at 34. David Blanks shot from long range started the 7-0 run, and Madarious Gibbs jumper tied the game for the first time. Valentines triple at the 8:00 mark of the second half extended Michigan States advantage to eight again, but the Spartans would only hit one more shot the rest of regulation. Game Notes Michigan State falls to 2-1 in the all-time series ... Texas Southern was averaging being outscored by 17.4 points per game ... The Tigers are now 1-8 on the road ... The Spartans outrebounded Texas Southern 40-28 ... Michigan State will try to get on track Monday against the Citadel while Texas Southern plays another road game Tuesday at Auburn. ' ' '