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30 June 2006: Italy 3-0 Ukraine (Hamburg)Italy will meet Germany in the World Cup semi-finals as they beat Ukraine to extend their unbeaten run to 23 games. Ukraine adopted a policy of containment but were behind after six minutes when keeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy was unable to keep out Gianluca Zambrotta's shot. The Azzurri extended their lead when Luca Toni guided home a 59th minute header. Maxim Kalinichenko twice hit the woodwork for Ukraine either side of Italy's second, before Toni sealed the win as he converted Zambrotta's cross. Italy were well worth their win, with Gianluigi Buffon superb in goal.Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Barzagli, Grosso, Perrotta, Pirlo (Barone 68), Gattuso (Zaccardo 76), Camoranesi (Oddo 68), Toni, Totti.Ukraine: Shovkovskiy, Nesmachniy, Sviderskiy (Vorobey 20), Rusol (Vashchuk 45), Tymoschuk, Shelayev, Gusev, Gusin, Kalinichenko, Milevskiy (Byelik 72), Shevchenko.
Ref: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium).
FIFA man of the match: Gennaro Gattuso.
26 June 2006: Italy 1-0 Australia (Kaiserslautern)Francesco Totti came off the bench to score an injury-time penalty and put 10-man Italy into the quarter-finals. With the clock ticking down, Fabio Grosso marauded down the left flank and worked his way into the box before falling over Lucas Neill's prone body. Totti kept his nerve to convert with the last kick of the game, breaking Australian hearts in Kaiserslautern. Luca Toni had earlier missed Italy's best chances, before Marco Materazzi's red card for a foul on Marco Bresciano. The former Everton defender's dismissal, which was harsh to say the least, altered what had been an open game up until then, as both sides seemed to settle for keeping it tight. The Socceroos, who had escaped on numerous occasions when Italy's strikers should have done better earlier in the game, failed to make the most of their one-man advantage despite a wealth of possession.Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi (Sent off 51), Grosso, Del Piero (Totti 75), Perrotta, Gattuso, Pirlo, Gilardino (Iaquinta 45), Toni (Barzagli 55).Australia: Schwarzer, Chipperfield, Neill, Moore, Culina, Wilkshire, Cahill, Grella, Bresciano, Sterjovski (Aloisi 81), Viduka.
Ref: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain).
FIFA man of the match: Gianluigi Buffon.
22 June 2006: Czech Republic 0-2 Italy (Hamburg)
Italy won convincingly to finish top of Group E and eliminate the Czech Republic from the World Cup. Substitute Marco Materazzi scored the opening goal with a powerful header from Francesco Totti's corner. The Czech's hopes of progress effectively ended when Jan Polak was sent off for a second bookable offence in first-half stoppage time. And Filippo Inzaghi killed the game off near the end when he broke from almost halfway to round Petr Cech and score.
Czech Republic: Cech, Grygera, Kovac (Heinz 78), Rozehnal, Jankulovski, Plasil, Polak (Sent off 45), Nedved, Poborsky (Stajner 46), Rosicky, Baros (Jarolim 64).
Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Nesta (Materazzi 17), Grosso, Camoranesi (Barone 73), Pirlo, Perrotta, Gattuso, Totti, Gilardino (Inzaghi 60).
Ref: Benito Archundia Tellez (Mexico).
FIFA man of the match: Marco Materazzi.
17 June 2006: Italy 1-1 USA (Kaiserslautern)The USA held on for most of the second half with nine men to earn a gutsy draw with 10-man Italy in an enthralling match. Italy went ahead when Alberto Gilardino headed home Andrea Pirlo's free-kick, before the USA levelled soon after thanks to Cristian Zaccardo's sliced own goal. For only the fourth time at a World Cup three men were sent off, Daniele De Rossi for an elbow, Pablo Mastroeni for a foul and Eddie Pope for two bookings. Kasey Keller made a series of saves as the USA held on to leave Group E wide open.Italy: Buffon, Zaccardo (Del Piero 54), Nesta, Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Perrotta, Pirlo, De Rossi (Sent off 28), Totti (Gattuso 35), Toni (Iaquinta 61), Gilardino.USA: Keller, Cherundolo, Onyewu, Pope (Sent off 47), Bocanegra, Dempsey (Beasley 62), Mastroeni (Sent off 45), Reyna, Convey (Conrad 51), McBride, Donovan.
Ref: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay).
FIFA man of the match: Kasey Keller.
12 June 2006: Italy 2-0 Ghana (Hamburg)Italy got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start with a deserved victory over Ghana in Hanover. Andrea Pirlo opened the scoring with a rasping long-range drive in the first half and substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta extended the advantage near the end. World Cup debutants Ghana played their part in an entertaining match and defender Emmanuel Pappoe wasted their best chance before the interval. But Italy, prompted by the superb Pirlo, were more clinical throughout.Italy: Buffon, Zaccardo, Nesta, Cannavaro, Grosso, Totti (Camoranesi 56), Perrotta, Pirlo, De Rossi, Toni (Del Piero 82), Gilardino (Iaquinta 64).Ghana: Kingston, Pantsil, Kuffour, Mensah, Pappoe (Shilla 45), Muntari, Essien, Appiah, Eric Addo, Gyan (Tachie-Mensah 89), Amoah (Pimpong 68).
Ref: Hansson (Swe).FIFA man of the match: Carlos Eugenio Simon (Brazil).
31 May 2006: Switzerland 1-1 Italy (Geneva, Switzerland)
Alberto Gilardino earned a 1-1 friendly draw against fellow World Cup finalists Switzerland as the Azzurri continued their World Cup preparations. The Swiss equalised through Daniel Gygax. Francesco Totti was given his first start since fracturing his ankle. Switzerland: Zuberbuhler (Coltorti 46); P Degen, Djourou, Senderos (Grichting 70), Magnin (Margairaz 46); Barnetta, Vogel, Cabanas (Spycher 46), Wicky (H Yakin 61); Gygax (D Degen 90), Frei.
Italy: Buffon; Zaccardo, Cannavaro, Materazzi (Oddo 46), Grosso (Bonera 60); Camoranesi (De Rossi 46), Pirlo (Perrotta 75), Gattuso; Totti, Del Piero (Iaquinta 46); Gilardino (Toni 46).
Ref: Sippel (Ger).2 June 2006: Italy 0-0 Ukraine (Geneva, Switzerland)
Italy stretched their unbeaten run to 18 matches with a 0-0 draw against fellow World Cup finalists Ukraine. Ukraine, who will be making their World Cup debut, limited themselves to defence for most of the match. But Ukraine almost snatched a late winner when Andriy Voronin missed with only keeper Gianluigi Buffon to beat.Italy: Buffon, Oddo, Nesta (Barzagli 61), Cannavaro (Materazzi 75), Grosso, Camoranesi (Barone 68), De Rossi, Pirlo (Perrotta 58), Gilardino, Del Piero (Totti 58), Toni (Inzaghi 58).
Ukraine: Shovkovskiy, Yezerskiy, Rusol, Vashchuk, Nesmachniy, Tymoschuk (Shelayev 88), Gusin (Sviderskiy 90), Rotan (Nazarenko 73), Kalinichenko (Byelik 55), Vorobey, Voronin.
Ref: Markus Nobs (Switzerland).The worry for Italy after these two friendlies was the lack of inspiration, which they had shown in wins over the Netherlands (3-1) and Germany (4-1) in friendly matches earlier in the year.
