Monday, June 26, 2006

Round 2: Italy v Australia


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.


ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]

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