<DIV class=firstP>DORTMUND, Germany - With a contest that takes place once every four years, the stakes and pressure couldn't get more intense — and the Westfalen Stadium was a fitting venue for a game of this magnitude. </DIV>
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<DIV class=firstP>With an atmosphere that can only be described as electrifying, the home German support turned it into a seething cauldron of noise and color and then in the space of a minute it was silenced.
<DIV>Fabio Grosso's glorious first-time strike in the 119th minute was quickly followed by Alessandro del Piero's breakaway to win this game for Italy, but these statistics barely begin to tell the story of a match that reached the highest level. </DIV>
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<DIV>Instead, what we witnessed tonight was an epic opera played out by two countries filled with pride, resilience and a passion for the beautiful game of football — and, in all honesty, neither Italy nor Germany deserved to lose this game and the chance to play in the final on Sunday in Berlin.
<DIV>The pace of the match from the opening minute could only be matched by NASCAR as two finely-tuned machines went at each other propping for weakness, holes, doubt but there was none. Only strength, discipline and mental fortitude were on display. </DIV>
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<DIV>Azzurri captain Fabio Cannavaro surely played one of the finest games of his storied career. First to every ball, immaculate in the challenge and a leader of real courage and determination, he is an example to every child who wants to be a defender. With Gennaro Gattuso patrolling the midfield like a hungry watch dog, Germany's star player, Michael Ballack, had a battle on his hands. The Germany captain, though, was also superb dictating the pace of the game like a master conductor.
<DIV>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. </DIV>
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<DIV>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. </DIV>
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<DIV>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. </DIV>
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<DIV>Italy, the masters of defending, had done it again and will now play either France or Portugal for the right to be called world champions for the fourth time in their history. For Germany, its magnificent ride is virtually over — it plays for third place in Stuttgart on Saturday — but Germany will leave this World Cup with its heads held high because it played football the way it is meant to be played. </DIV>
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<DIV>Germany were bold, attacking and, under the tutelage of Jürgen Klinsmann, have ushered in a new age for Germany. </DIV>
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<DIV>The final word, though, must go to the azzurri. They began the tournament slowly but, much like 1982, when they were most recently world champions, this squad has built momentum. Marcello Lippi has created a side against which goals are difficult to score — they have conceded only once in six matches (an own goal) — and with talented goal scorers in every position they must enter Berlin as favorites on Sunday. </DIV>
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<DIV>Without a doubt, the match of the tournament</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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楼主
>很不错的综述。</P>