Auf Wiedersehen

You see, the tournament would be much better off without Italy, they're so boring.

Yeah, right.

The first semi-final of World Cup 2006 was not only the match of the tournament, but will go down in World Cup legend as one of the greatest ever seen. The scoreline, still reading 0-0 with 90 seconds of extra time remaining, did it no justice whatsoever.

Semi-finals can often be nervous affairs, due to the sheer amount at stake. Sure, there is more to gain in a final with the ultimate prize to be won, but there is far more to lose in a semi-final, making these games much more susceptible to tension. When it comes players being dictated to by their emotions, fear of losing will assume power over the hope of winning almost every time. Besides, for the loser of a final there is an achievement on which to reflect and be proud, and the satisfaction of knowing their place in history is secure. For a beaten semi-finalist there is the certainty of obscurity, and the ignominy of participation in the harrowing misery of the 3rd place play-off.

What made last night's match different is that both sides, particularly Italy, defeated their fear. Perhaps this is not too surprising in Italy's situation, after all with many players facing relegation with their clubs, and having seen a personal friend almost take his own life a week before, what did they have to lose?

The entire 120 minutes of this game was completely absorbing, Italy dominated the first half-hour, controlling midfield, and with Totti enjoying his most creative spell of the tournament so far it appeared only a matter of time until they would break through. Germany however showed superb resilience, holding off the wave of attacks, and gradually growing stronger. The second half became a wonderfully open affair, with passing of the highest quality moving the ball swiftly between penalty areas, and nothing between the sides at all. The longer the match went without a goal, the more the feeling grew that Italy may have missed their chance. Ballack came more into the game, feeding his wingers who tried in vain to supply the German strikers with healthy ammunition, but found their efforts continually thwarted by the world's outstanding rearguard, and in particular the world's outstanding defender, the awesome Fabio Cannavaro.

Cannavaro was, in footballing terms at least, a giant, showing an almost psychic positional sense, precision and authority in the tackle, cool and accurate distribution, and when anything did go slightly awry, extraordinary powers of recovery. The captain was the ultimate leader, organising his defensive troops in one instant, and driving forward the attack the next. Only Zinedine Zidane can possibly hope to rival Cannavaro for player of the tournament now, and Zizou will need two mighty performances to rob the Italian skipper of that accolade.

As the match reached extra time, so Italy reached the point of no return. It was clear to everyone, including both sets of players, that a penalty shoot-out meant the death of the Italian dream. If Italy wanted their place in the World Cup final, the place their performance had definitely merited, they had to score a goal. Extra-time saw the drama reach an even higher level as a result, as Italy gathered everything they could find, and threw it straight at the German goal. Gilardino, a most influential substitute, hit the post, Zambrotta hit the bar, Del Piero got the ball stuck under his feet with the goal at his mercy. The commitment to attack of the Italians saw them playing the additional period with no fewer than four strikers - they really didn't want penalties. This, inevitably left them vulnerable, and the Germans almost took advantage, Buffon having to magnificently protect his perfect record against oppostion players in this World Cup.

It seemed that the monumental Italian effort had come to nothing, and that the penalty shoot out, and inevitable German win, was upon us. The expectation could be sensed all around the Dortmund stadium, a nation waited to acclaim it's heroes once again. But this Italian team has a spirit beyond that displayed by any other side in this World Cup. Pirlo, another wonderful performer in midfield, saw his excellent shot turned away for a corner by Lehmann. When the ball returned to the Italian on the edge of the area, his instinct must have been to fire in another shot. Instead Pirlo, with immense composure, skilfully evaded three oncoming defenders, and found space to slide the ball to Grosso, the left back, who from the right hand side of the penalty area, curled a perfect first time shot beyond the German 'keeper. Grosso's celebration resembled that of Marco Tardelli in 1982 (there can be no higher praise for a celebration), eyes bulging, fists pumping, tears streaming. The embodiment of what it means to put your team into the World Cup final. There was still time as the Germans made one desperate effort to recover for Del Piero to add a beautifully taken 2nd on the break, with the very last kick of the game.

The Italians celebrated not with relief, but with the joy of a team that had achieved exactly what it expected to. Never for a moment did the belief leave them that they would emerge victorious, and that, ultimately was what saw them through. For the Germans, an incredible adventure had come to an end, and they were left to deal with the extreme pain felt by a team that has to lose before its own expectant people. A nation that had celebrated as one since that last-minute winner against Poland, now suffered collective grief.

The surge of optimism that gives any host nation its foundation for success in a World Cup can unfortunately only do so much. In the cold light of day, the Germans must accept that they perished due to a lack of quality. Their best chances fell to the talented but raw Lukas Podolski, who spurned them. The effort shown by the workmanlike German midfield just couldn't quite cope with the class of the Italians. When a composed and cultured left foot was needed to provide the decisive finish, it was the foot of an Italian. This match was tremendously even, but Italy were just a little better everywhere on the field. Not vastly better, but enough for it to be apparent to everyone, and the grace with which the Germans accepted their defeat reflected this. The right team won.

The Italians are one step away from arriving at what they must now believe is their destiny. Only the finest all round team performance of the World Cup so far was enough to get them to the final, and they will believe that they can still improve on this when they get there. The victorious team in tonight's semi-final now know the formidable levels that they will need to reach in order to deny them.

They could start by trying to work out what on earth they need to do to score a goal.