World Cup: German Heartbeak

Two goals in the final minutes of extra time gave Italy a 2-0 win over Germany to enter the World Cup Finals on Monday. With the score tied at 0-0 at fulltime, penalties seems a given until Fabio Grosso broke the deadlock in the 119th min. Yes, that's right. 119 mins! Last minute of extra-time! From a corner, Andrea Pirlo got possession at the edge of the box and teed up Grosso for a superb left-foot shot that curled just inside the post. Jens Lehmann had no chance. Substitute Alessandro Del Piero made sure of Italy's place in the Final in extra-time injury-time when he collected a reverse pass from Alberto Gilardino on a breakaway and carefully place it into the net. A evenly-fought match but Italy did deserve to win as they took their chances. They also hit the woodwork twice. Francesco Totti had his best game so far and outplayed Michael Ballack but the best Italian player on the field was Gattuso. He gave Ballack, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski a torrid time defending the Italian goal with his life. And when the Germans did get past him, Cannavaro and Buffon stop them dead in their tracks. Buffon especially made a great save from Podolski early in the second half. Klinsmann chose to start Sebastian Kehl for the suspended Torsten Frings to shore up the German midfield, that was a good decision but in the end, it wasn't enough and Italt are though to the final. Still, the Germans played well in this World Cup and with this young team, the future look very bright for German football. Italy turned back the clock in this World Cup. The famed Italian defence is back and the Finals is just rewards for a team which kept their concentration despite huge off-field problems. Great work!