German players made her believe they could reach the finals; but Italy wanted her to cry.
Germany – Italy game was supercharged, where both teams were holding on to their dream fighting for each posession and looking for the golden goal that could carry them to the finals. They played their hearts out as if it was the last game in the tournament with the host nation’s crowd relentlessly staying with their team throughout 119 minutes of grueling gametime; until one minute left before Germany could make history, the dagger struck which silenced the entire stadium. Tears started to flow…
With Fabio Grosso delivering the goal with a minute to go, tears started to fall as it would take a miracle to equalize with Italy given the time remaining. As if destiny had smiled on Italy they again scored another goal via Alessandro Del Piero.
A bitter and stunning ending to a match that should have been decided in penalty kicks. If it was not destined for a penalty kick ending, the goal should have came earlier where Germany had a chance to score. But that’s not the way fate would want it. They wanted Germany to believe for a full 119 minutes before Italy broke their hearts.
The Rise from Ashes
Defender Fabio Grosso was nobody five years ago playing for a fourth division club and was left out of Euro 2004 by Marcello Lippi, the same coach who gave him confidence in the World Cup; and now, he has risen above and scored the goal that torpedoed them to the finals.
Prior to that he also won the last minute penalty against Australia which help them reach the second stage.
It Could have gone Either way
Both teams have been given their chances in putting the goal behind the net, as Nick Webster enumerated it: Ninety minutes of play went in the blink of an eye with the best chance falling to the golden boy of German football, Lukas Podolski, but he couldn’t convert when it seemed as though it was easier to score.
Back came Italy in a pulsating extra-time period with first Alberto Gilardino hitting the post and then Gianluca Zambrotta striking the ball against the crossbar. Podolski was then denied by Gianluigi Buffon, who once again proved himself to be the best goalkeeper in the world.
As the clock wound down and with both coaches beginning to write down the names of their penalty takers, up stepped Grosso, a defender, to curl a wondrous shot around the despairing dive of Jens Lehmann and the opera of football we had witnessed was over.
Italy Jurgen’s German Revolution
Italy vs Australia
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content sources : espn, yahoo
[tags]FIFA World Cup, World Cup, FIFA World Cup 2006, Switzerland, Ukraine[/tags]
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CONGRATUATIONS TO ITALY….HOPEFULLY THEY WILL WIN THE CUP.
Rose – I think Italy is the most solid team of the four finalists. But France still has the experience of Zidane and Patrick to back them up. And a solid tactician in Portugal.
Anyways, my heart is for Brazil then Germany. I am still not sure who to route for in the finals. 🙂
[…] Football is an amazing sport, but what’s more amazing are the fans who pour in so much excitement, passion, love, etc. on it. How many sports would you see children crying over the loss of their team, or fans going out of their way to body paint themselves in the tune of their country’s flag, or chant and cheer relentlessly throughout the game? […]
[…] The crying girl must be all smiles as hundreds of thousands of Germans gathered to watch their 3rd place game against Portugal as if it was a finals game. Germany did not disappoint them anymore with an entertaining win in the score of 3 – 1 in favor of the host nation. […]