English Football Chat - Championship Match Reports & Fan Forum UK

Match Reports

RSS Feeds

Team Directory

Premiership

Championship

Articles

Shop4Real

The 2007 season has started
Add your reviews and articles here on Football4Real.co.uk

Football4real.co.uk

•	Match Reports
•	Articles
•	Team Directory
•	World Cup News
•	Premiership News
•	Championship News
•	League One News
•	League Two News
•	FA Cup News
•	League Cup News
•	Scottish News
•	Welsh News
•	European News
•	International News
•	Shop4Real
•	League Tables
•	About RSS Feeds
•	About Us
•	Contact Us
•	Privacy Policy

VIEW MATCH REPORT

Tuesday 27 Jun 2006
Italy 1 Australia 0
Socceroo shocker as the World Cup of bad refereeing continues!

AUSTRALIA'S World Cup dream died in dramatic and controversial circumstances in Kaiserslautern this morning (AEST), with Francesco Totti scoring the only goal from the penalty spot with the last kick of the game.

Totti, left out of the Azzurri's starting line-up by Italy coach Marcello Lippi after ineffective performances in the group stage, powered the kick past the despairing dive of Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer into the top left corner of the net.

But the Socceroos, and all Australia, will debate forever the decision of Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo to award the spot-kick three minutes into added time at the end of the second half.

With Italy making one of its few attacking forays after the second-half dismissal of Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso hit the deck inside the penalty box after contact with Australia centre-back Lucas Neill.

Grosso had robbed Marco Bresciano of the ball in the attacking third and advanced into the penalty area, where he sold Neill into sliding early for a tackle.

The marauding left-back cut the ball back but he then seemed to fall over the Blackburn Rovers defender rather being brought down, particularly as Neill seemed not to make any attempt to move towards Grosso from his prone position.

Australia coach Guus Hiddink certainly disagreed with the penalty decision.

I think it was a questionable penalty, but the referee gave it, Hiddink said.

(Grosso) fell.

"It was just a normal challenge.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi meanwhile insisted his side fully deserved its last-gasp victory.

"I definitely wouldn't say we were lucky," Lippi said.

"We had four or five good opportunities to score and their keeper made some great saves.

"We have great respect for Australia, but I thought we defended well and allowed them only a couple of half-chances.

"The lads showed great determination and were very well organised at the back. We even created several opportunities for ourselves when we were a man down.

"We showed tremendous heart and I can't describe the joy."

While Australia lost to a last-minute penalty, it was undone largely by its inability to stretch the Italy defence after Materazzi was dismissed in the 50th minute, given a straight red card for a late, two-footed challenge on an advancing Bresciano.

The red card seemed to be a fair decision although other officials may have awarded only a yellow and it changed totally the complexion of a previously evenly poised match.

Italy, previously lively on the counter-attack - with the pace and movement of strikers Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino causing Australias defence any number of problems, particularly in the first half when midfield players Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso played quick diagonal balls over the top - became anonymous as an attacking threat.

Australia increased its domination of possession, but it failed to pull its more illustrious opponent out of shape, primarily because it seemed unable use the flanks but also because the zip and crispness disappeared from the passing and movement.

The Socceroos really felt the absence of Harry Kewell, who missed the game not with a reoccurrence of his long-standing groin injury, as originally reported, but with gout.

Along with the importance of Kewell to the side, there will be plenty of post-match conjecture about Hiddinks refusal to change his tactics or to send on a second striker until 30 minutes after Materazzis dismissal.

If there has been a criticism of the Dutchmans tactics since assuming the Socceroos reins, it has been that the side has lacked a cutting edge as he concentrated on maintaining shape and making the side difficult to break down.

It is hard to argue with his record, but the cold, hard light of day and reality will show that Australia has simply failed to score enough goals during periods of dominance at Germany 2006.

The real problem was that the Australian team played well here but at the end of the day we were not deadly enough in the penalty area, Hiddink said.

I am proud of this team, not only of the way they played today but in previous games.

Australias best chance of the second half fell to midfield player Tim Cahill, who climbed highest to reach an 80th-minute corner from Bresciano but powered a header over the bar.

Scott Chipperfield, arguably Australias best over the 90 minutes, also had chances, one stinging the hands of Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon after a sweet right-foot shot from inside the penalty area, as he had also done in the first half.

But for all Australia's dominance of possession, those remained the only meaningful chances it mustered in the second half.

Australia made a bright start to the match, holding the ball in the early moments with a move that finished with Chipperfield curling a dangerous cross from the left flank into the six-yard box, where Cahill was unable to get power in his header.

A similar move minutes later saw Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro at full stretch to head the ball away from Cahill.

The Socceroos pulled Italy around in the first 45 minutes with crisp passing and exceptional movement, but once again they lacked a sharp edge with captain Mark Viduka playing as a lone and largely ineffective striker.

Viduka dominated the aerial battle with Italy centre-backs Cannavaro and Materazzi, and he linked well with his running midfield players, particularly Bresciano, but Australia produced only two clear-cut opportunity in the first stanza.

The first chance went to Viduka himself.

He climbed high above Materazzi and midfield player Simon Perrotta to reach Bresciano's 23rd-minute free-kick, but his header lacked the power to trouble Buffon.

Six minutes later, the ball fell to Chipperfield after the Italy defence failed again to deal with a dead-ball situation.

The left-back, a striker with Wollongong Wolves in the former National Soccer League, hit a sweet volley and Buffon grasped the ball only at the second attempt.

Italy gradually worked itself into the game after its slow start, and Schwarzer, recalled to the side after controversially being dropped for the group game against Croatia, had to make fine saves to deny both Toni and Gilardino.

In particular, Schwarzer showed great reflexes to save a shot from Toni shot after the Fiorentina star had turned Craig Moore on the edge of the six-yard box.

Chipperfield also showed great reactions to block fierce shots from Toni and Perrotta.

Italy opened the second period in a similar vein, with Toni heading over after good link work involving Perrotta and Vincenzo Iaquinta, a half-time substitute for Gilardino.

But that opportunity, two minutes before Materazzis red card, all-but marked the last of Italy as an attacking force until the dramatic closing moments.

In between times, Gattuso robbed Cahill of the ball on the halfway line but he overhit his 63rd-minute cross to the otherwise anonymous Alessandro del Piero.

Playmaker Pirlo then tested Schwarzer with a free-kick two minutes later, almost catching the keeper unawares with a floated dipping attempt direct on goal from 35 metres.