Antonio Conte knocked in a close-range bicycle kick in the 52nd minute to put Italy up 1-0. Turkey responded nine minutes later when Buruk Okan's header off a free kick gave them their first goal in the competition. 

But the Turks, who have now lost all four of their matches in Euro finals, were dismayed to see Scottish referee Hugh Dallas award a penalty for a challenge on Inzaghi and the Juventus striker fired home from the spot 20 minutes from the end. 

"The foul was clear," Inzaghi insisted afterward. "But the defender could have avoided it." 

Turkish coach Mustafa Denizli din't agree. 

"When we scored [the equalizer], the game was going OK for us, but then suddenly the penalty," Denizli said. "From where I was sitting I think it was not a penalty. After the penalty my team lost concentration." 

Italian coach Dino Zoff preferred to steer clear of controversy. 

"I don't want to dispute a referee's decision," Zoff said. "I've never done that and am not going to do that now. My feeling is it probably was a penalty. It was awarded by the referee and that's all that counts." 

The result mans that both Italy and Belgium, who won their opening games, are jointly atop Group B with three points and the same goal difference. Belgium downed Sweden 2-1 in Brussels on Saturday. 

Italy dominated early, earning four corner kicks in the first five minutes to help silence a Gelredome stadium crowd dominated by Turkey's fans, including many Turkish immigrants living in the Netherlands and nearby Germany. 

"The first 25 minutes were very good," Zoff said. "That gave us a lot of confidence and allowed us to put pressure on the opponent and open up space." 

Conte hit the right post in the sixth minute with a low hard drive. In the 17th minute, Stefano Fiore curved a precise cross to a wide-open Inzaghi, who headed it left of the mark. 

After that early spell of Italian dominance, Dino Zoff's team seemed to lose their way in midfield and the Turks began to play more enterprising soccer. 

Turkey's best first-half scoring opportunity came in the 15th minute when Yalcin Sergen knocked a hard, right-footed shot just wide. Hakan Sukur, a former Torino striker who now is a reported transfer target for AS Roma, also caused problems for the Italian defense with his height and power in the air. 

Turkey came out pressing in the second half, as Havutcu Tayfur fired a low shot in the 51st minute that was confidently handled by 'keeper Francesco Toldo. 

But the Italians broke out to take the lead a minute later when Fiore found Inzaghi with a well-placed left to right pass and the Juve striker's low cross was blocked by defender Ozalan Alpay. The ball looped up and Conte found the net with an acrobatic overhead kick. 

Turkey almost leveled four minutes later when Tayfur's volley flashed past the post after the Italians half cleared a free kick. 

With chances coming at both ends, Totti headed against the crossbar and, when Inzaghi tried to bundle in the rebound, Ogun Temizkenoglu cleared off the line. 

But the Turks drew level in the 61st minute when Italian captain Paolo Maldini needlessly gave away a free kick on the right. Sergen floated in the ball and, with 'keeper Toldo charging off his line, Okan, the smallest player on the field, got to it first to head the ball home. 

The Italians drove forward in search of a second goal and Inzaghi had another shot cleared off theline by Ogun after beating goalkeeper Recber Rustu. 

But the second arrived from the penalty spot after Ogun was judged to have fouled Inzaghi as they chased the ball tward the line. 

The Italian appeared to have pushed the ball too far ahead and, as they chased it side by side, went down and referee Dallas pointed to the spot. 

The Turkish fans hurled objects on to the field behind Rustu's goal in protest at the decision but Inzaghi rifled the penaltylow and hard past the keeper. 

Alessandro Del Piero entered the game 15 minutes from the end and almost made it 3-1 with his first touch, a superbly struck 30-meter free kick that struck the underside of the crossbar and came out. 

Minutes later Inzaghi almost scored again but pulled his shot wide of the post. 

Zoff, who has been lambasted by the Italian media, earned some breathing room with the win. 

"It was certainly one of the better matches since I took over," said Zoff but he cautioned that "it's only the first match. There's more to come and it's too early to make predictions." 

He insisted that Italy still had to convert more of its chances. 

"We created a lot of opportunities, [but] we must be able to take advantage of them," said Zoff, the goalkeeper on Italy's 1982 World Cup championship team. "Turkey proved a strong and dangerous opponent. We only lacked some good luck today."