118 minutes of unbreakable defense on both sides and then boom, two minutes from the end of OT the Azurri get lightning strikes from Grosso and Del Piero. Italy hand Germany their first loss ever at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund (14 previous matches over 71 years) and move on to the final against the Portugal-France winner. Major props to Fabio Cannavaro, who stood hard at the center of the Italian defense, my choice for Man of the Match.
For a change in this tournament the referee, Armando Archundia of Mexico, did not take the game away from the players. Much as I dislike Marcello Balboa’s commentary he was right to compliment Archundia for allowing play to flow and not buy into most of the diving.
A beautiful, beautiful match with a classic ending between two historic rivals. Hard to fault the players or coaches on either side and the 65,000 fans made the grounds rock with passion. Rumors have US Soccer ready to approach Jurgen Klinsmann to replace Bruce Arena but I think the German Federation would be foolish to let him leave. Germany is a pretty young team outside of Jens Lehmann and will surely be even stronger in four years.
Will Italy win their fourth championship, France a second or Portugal break through for the first time? I’m done with predictions and will be rooting for Portugal tomorrow and Italy Sunday.
BillSaysThis 