Italy’s march into the World Cup final at the expense of Germany was met with banner headlines in the Italian press on Wednesday.
The 2-0 extra-time win over the hosts in Dortmund was an historic one for the Italians, ”who could beat anyone — even the Martians” wrote the Roman newspaper Il Messaggero.
”The whole of Germany will be mourning this merited 2-0 win for Italy. But against Italy they [Germany] always lose. There is a reason for that and it is simply that Italy is stronger,” the paper boasted.
It was the fourth time that the two countries had met in the history of the World Cup finals and the fourth time that Germany had failed to defeat their southern neighbours.
It was also the first time that the German national side had lost a match in Dortmund, having won 13 out of 14 games in the football-mad western city since 1935.
”Historic Italy — we are in the final,” was the front-page headline in the La Republica newspaper, while the top-selling Corriere della Sera went with ”Germany beaten in extra-time — another match which will go down in history.”
The country’s main sports dailies, delighted to take a step back from the mood of gloom that surrounds the club game at home which is mired in a wide-ranging match-fixing scandal, were in festive mood.
”We love you,” gushed the Corriere dello Sport in a large-type headline, while Gazetta dello Sport celebrated with ”Fly high Italy, fly high.”
”We are great and we know it,” Corriere dello Sport wrote in an editorial. ”We have beaten the Germans, they will boycott our pizzas, but we have the taste and flavour of victory.”
”It’s a match that will go down in the annals of football, a semifinal that will stay in our hearts and in our minds and which has given us for the sixth time a place in the World Cup final,” the paper concluded.
”They gave all they had and for that reason they won everything. The final, the glory and applause from around the world,” wrote La Stampa.
The dramatic climax to the match with Italy’s two winning goals coming at the end of extra-time saw Romans burst into wild celebrations.
Cries of joy rang out from apartments and cafes in the capital after Fabio Grosso and then Alessandro Del Piero scored the decisive goals to take Italy into Sunday’s final.
Minutes after the final whistle, a stream of cars and mopeds streamed into the streets, sounding their horns in joy, while supporters waved Italy’s white, red and green flag.
Thousands of Italian fans had watched the match on a giant screen at the Circo Massimo in the heart of ancient Rome.
While most bars installed TV sets for customers to follow the action, the capital’s venerable Peroni restaurant simply closed for the evening, informing customers in a notice outside: ”Sorry, but Italy are playing.”
The joyous reaction at the victory in Dortmund overtook the shock felt earlier in the day when the Italian Football Federation’s prosecutor called for all four clubs at the centre of a match-fixing scandal to be thrown out of Serie A.
Prosecutor Stefano Palazzi called for Juventus to drop two divisions, and be stripped of its 2005 and 2006 titles, and for AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio to drop one division. — AFP
