Dortmund

After he converted a last-minute penalty to beat Australia in the second round of the World Cup, Francesco Totti said winning the ”scudetto” with AS Roma in 2001 remained the highlight of his career. Maybe he’ll have a new most memorable moment if Italy wins the title on Sunday. ”It’s the realisation of a dream. We only need a little bit more to make history,” Totti said.

Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero each scored late in extra time on Tuesday to put Italy in the World Cup final after beating Germany 2-0. Grosso curled a left-footed shot past the diving Jens Lehmann in the 119th minute to put the three-time champions into Sunday’s final against either France or Portugal.

Ghana’s World Cup dreams were shattered by reigning champions Brazil, but the Black Stars played well against some top football teams and served notice of what might happen on African soil in 2010. A three-week Cinderella run ended on Tuesday in a 3-0 second-round loss to Brazil.

Brazil striker Ronaldo became the all-time World Cup scoring leader with 15 career goals, helping the defending champions defeat Ghana 3-0 on Tuesday to capture a berth in the World Cup quarterfinals. Ronaldo scored the historic goal with a spectacular solo effort in the fifth minute.

Switzerland kept their World Cup dream well and truly alive with a 2-0 win over troubled but lively debutants Togo on Monday. Goals in either half from Alexander Frei and Tranquillo Barnetta lifted Kobi Kuhn’s youngsters up to the top of Group G on four points, along with South Korea, who await them in their remaining first-round fixture on Friday.

Substitute Oliver Neuville scored a stoppage-time winner as host nation Germany moved to the brink of qualifying for the last 16 of the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Poland on Wednesday. Germany had spurned countless chances, with their Polish-born strikers Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski the main guilty parties.

Sweden and Trinidad and Tobago kick off their World Cup campaigns on Saturday with both teams pinning their hopes on two 34-year-olds looking to shine once more in the twilight of their careers. The Swedes, tipped to qualify alongside England from Group B, will be buoyed by the evergreen Henrik Larsson.