I’m pulling my hair out. I don’t want this match to go to penalty kicks. Iaquinta is coming in for the extra periods, which is a good sign. Give me people who can run.

Finally, no more waiting, no more debating. For those of you, be you German, Italian, or wherever you are, let’s hope for an exciting and clean game.

So Torsten Frings is suspended. You think Klinsmann is laying awake tonight, sweating about it? You think oddsmakers on the match even budged? Not a chance. Unless Podolski, Ballack and Klose get some ‘Tottenham lasagne’, this doesn’t impact the match.

Archundia to referee the Italy / Germany semi-final.

An absolute oustanding effort today. Not much to complain about, and even if there is, I’m not going to get into it now. It’s time to enjoy this one for the day and wait for the titanic battle with Deutschland on Tuesday.

Aside from the fluke Saudi result, Ukraine has found it very hard to score goals and as match day draws closer I’m convinced their struggles will continue on Friday. That said, the Azzurri have not exactly been lighting up the net. So I’m preparing for another nail biter.
If Italy can keep the long haired [...]

Nesta will not be available, as we suspected. However, now news comes that Voronin (Sheva’s partner for this whole tournament so far) has a muscle tear and will miss the rest of the cup. So the injuries are affecting both squads.

Every match seems to bring a new twist. The Pessotto news today is unnerving, and one can’t help but wonder if it will affect everyone, especially Zambrotta, Alex and others that played with him. All that aside, there is still the very real issue that gli Azzurri have only five available defenders for the Ukraine [...]

Ok gang, clearly the “was it diving or wasn’t it diving” discussion has creeped back into the primordial ooze, and people the world over are flinging the electronic equivalents of rotten tomatoes, middle fingers, sticks and stones and everything else over the penalty call. Ahh, ain’t it grand? ;0 But I’m not “going there”. My proverbial two quid on the matter: despite the great match, the Aussie defender made a critical and basic error: never go down in the box.

Arrivederci, 1994. Buona notte, 2002. In a psychological nightmare of a match, its only fitting that the much-maligned Franceso Totti came to the spot and hammered home a penalty kick as calm as a cold-blooded killer, closing the door on some awful memories.