Injury Time Penalty Win For Italy
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.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi says he was always confident his side would beat Australia even after Marco Materazzi was sent off early in the second half.
“I was never worried because there was still extra time to play and penalties.”
Lippi added: “This was a game that really had everything.”
“In the first half, we didn’t allow even one shot on goal - in the second, we struggled but we gave away little.”
Totti’s penalty was the very last kick of the match and the Roma playmaker believes Italy can go far in the tournament.
“So far the critics have really laid into me, but I’ve always said I’d prove myself on the pitch,” said Totti.
“We suffered for long periods of the match, but in the end it was the whole team that won this match because Australia were a strong side.”
“Now I think we can go a long way in this tournament.”
“The important thing when we went down to 10 men was to keep our heads.”
