ITALY - GERMANY

LATE ITALIAN BLITZ STUNS HOSTS

ITALY 2 GERMANY 0

The Lowdown: Before this World Cup began Germany were extremely anxious to not only put on a great World Cup, but to field a competitive team as well. Talent-wise they were certainly not one of the more favored sides and some dreadful results(including a 4-1 friendly loss to Italy) and coach Klinsmann's perceived naivety did little to quell the typical doom-and-gloom attitude of the German press and populace. Some even said that Germany would struggle to escape their first round group. Italy, on the other hand, with a side that compares favorably to just about any team in the world, were among the pre-tournament favorites, though not without some personal demons of their own(recent tournament performances and the domestic scandal). However, since the opening kickoff of this tournament against Costa Rica the Germans surprised the world with their highly energetic and offensive style of play. Gone were the uber-athletic, tactically supreme German sides of yore. Here was a young team full of dynamic players and spurred by a level of support bordering on hysteria. When they hosted in 74 there wasn't a whole lot of flag waving, but this World Cup brought out a level of nationalism in Germany unprecedented in the post-war years. By all accounts the Germans have been spectacular hosts, winning fans with both their hospitality and attractive football. In the days leading up to this match some English fans even admitted the unthinkable, that they were willing to cheer for the old, hated enemy. Indeed, after their demolition of Sweden and fightback against heavily fancied Argentina, the Germans looked well-nigh unstoppable. Well, to make a long story short......it's over now. Italy continued their well-oiled(no pun intended) World Cup run with a performance that left no doubt. Home advantage and extreme emotion can carry a team far, but there is no substitute for quality and Italy showed that by scoring two late, beautiful goals to break the heart of an entire nation. It looked like this tie was headed to penalty shootouts, which would surely be a boon to the Germans who historically may be the best penalty-taking nation in cup history, while Italy join England on the opposite end of that spectrum. The Germans had actually scouted Argentina's penalty takers prior to the quarterfinals, with the goalkeeping coach handing Lehmann a slip of paper before each kick in that game. So the Italians had reason to fear but their superior talent finally came good when Pirlo laid a beatiful pass on for Grosso to sublimely curl past a desperate Lehmann. Euphoria ensued, and just as Germany mounted a fierce assault for the equalizer, Del Piero curled another lovely shot around the German keeper and it was all over for Deutschland.

Match Rating: 4 out of 5. A quality encounter between two tournament favorites that ended dramatically, though I couldn't fully enjoy it because I was in a dive bar in Brooklyn.

Man of the Match: Tie: Pirlo and Cannavaro, Italy. Pirlo was tremendous and his pass for Grosso fooled the entire German defense as they thought he was going to shoot. Cannavaro is simply from another planet. Italy have not let up a true goal at this final yet and their diminutive, bald-headed centreback is a huge reason for this. I've never seen anybody read the game like him, just a rock back there and the MVP of this entire tournament so far.

Disappointment of the Match: Can't really say that anybody disappointed in particular as this match went according to script in my opinion. Torsten Frings's suspension was very significant and without his stifling presence Italy were able to control much of the match in the middle of the pitch. It didn't help that his suspension was blamed on the Italian media, who supposedly provided FIFA with footage of the post-Argentina match brawl that showed him throwing a punch. The German fans reacted by vociferously booing the Italian squad, which was unfortunate. Ballack looked lethargic at times and broke down in tears after the match in resolving that it is just not his destiny to play in a World Cup final(he missed the 02 final on a yellow card).

The Fallout: Italy are on to the final for the first time since 1994 and will be looking for their 4th WC title, which would put them second to Brazil and first among Eurpean sides ahead of Germany's 3. Germany are rightly devastated but they simply did not have the class to match Italy. For my money they were fortunate to beat a superior Argentina in the quarters. Not undeserving, but fortunate. Their lack of quality finally caught up to them and they really should be happy with a semi-final appearance.

Extra: Italy truly look formidable. They started off this tournament with a characteristically impenetrable defense held down by Cannavaro and Buffon, but the forward line of Toni, Gilardino, Totti, Del Piero et al. failed to impress. They've since overcome those offensive woes and now have absolutely no weaknesses, anywhere. Interestingly, the Italian papers reported this historic victory right next to other headlines about the current corruption scanal embroiling Italian domestic football. It was recently recommended that certain clubs be relegated to Serie B, Serie A staples Lazio and Fiorentina among them. Most shocking of all was the recommendation that mightly Juventus, giants of the Italian and world scene, the iconic "Old Lady," be sent down to the third division. The last time Italian football had such dark clouds overhead was in 1982, when Paolo Rossi was banned from the game and morale was at an all-time low. Rossi came back for the World Cup and led them to unexpected glory. The signs look good for another Italian triumph, but with France standing the way it's just too close to call.

Extra Extra: Grosso wears number 3 for Italy, which is the equivalent of a Chicago Bulls player wearing number 23. 3 was Paolo Maldini's number and he is only the most capped player in Italy's history and probably the greatest defender in the history of the game. Grosso did the number justice on this day with that superb strike in extra-time.