Italy late show seals it
Italy late show seals it
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Tuesday, 04, Jul 2006 11:59
Italy grabbed a late extra-time double to see Germany knocked out as they moved into the World Cup final.
With 119 minutes on the clock Andrea Pirlo played a cute ball to Fabio Grosso who curled a beautiful winner beyond Jens Lehmann.
The Germans powered forward with the seconds disappearing and on the counter attack Alessandro Del Piero ended the contest with another curler to make it 2-0.
Straight from kick-off the match had been surprisingly open with both sides happy to attack and leave space at the back.
The first big chance came in the first half – Lucas Podolski and Miroslav Klose combined well and Klose rolled a perfect pass to the overlapping Bernd Schneider but his shot ended up narrowly over.
In the second half Klose waltzed past the challenges of Gennaro Gattuso and Fabio Cannavaro but could not beat Gigi Buffon.
The Juventus keeper then tipped over a dipping Podolski drive to keep the Italians alive as the game ended 0-0.
In extra time it was the Italians who threatened. Alberto Gilardino eased past Philip Lahm on the touch line cut inside and rolled the ball against the post with Lehmann beaten.
Minutes later Gianluca Zambrotta launched a blistering drive which ricocheted off the crossbar.
The Germans held out but Grosso's deserved breakthrough allowed Italy to progress into the final where they will play France or Portugal.