Australia 0 – Italy 1
Dive!
It was one of the worst calls of the whole 2006 World Cup. Neill does indeed commit to the tackle or more to the point, to block the cross/shot, but Grosso doesn’t cross/shoot. Instead, he pushes the ball into the middle and then “falls” over the torso of the sprawled Niell. Grosso made contact with Neill not the other way round.
In the Brazil/Ghana game played on the 27th June, in the 13th minute, see Adriano pull almost exactly the same “trick” as Grosso. In the Ghana penalty area, the goalkeeper did exactly as Neill had done against Grosso. Adriano got a yellow card for diving which was the correct decision. Don’t start preeching protecting the goalkeeper stuff either. If anyone thinks that if that game was Italy vs Argentina or England or Germany and the exact same thing happened between a defender of one of these teams and Grosso, that the referee would give a penalty 15 secs before full time – no way. There would have been a riot.
Not much more to say really, but here is a quick game summary.
After 3 minutes, Toni jumps for a cross and heads it just wide. Scott Chipperfield makes an excellent tackle in the 13th minute to stop Toni from having another scoring opportunity. Australia had a lot of possesion in the first half and at times, it looked like Italy was watching the passing and just waiting defensively for a counter attack opportunity. In the 19th minute, Gilardino has a go with a scissor type shot on goal but Schwarzer is able to make the save.
A few minutes later, Toni again has a shot on goal and Schwarzer makes a good save. The Australians are giving Toni too much room in my opinion. 23 minutes into the game, Vince Grella gets a yellow card and is not pleased. A minute later, Viduka gets his head onto a set piece but is unable to generate the power needed to beat Buffon in the goals. In the 28th minute, Fabio Grosso gets a yellow card and disputed the decision. A minute or so later, Chippefield takes a bouncing ball and shoots it on goal but Buffon saves it and is able to stop it moving out before there is a rebound. This was the best shot in the first half and a good save too.
At 34 minutes, Toni again has a volley in the box but it is blocked by a defender for a corner. Again, it’s Toni who gets his head on another one but sends it over the bar. The rest of the first half is fairly defensive though Craig Moore was lucky not to get a yellow card for a challenge on Toni towards the end of the half.
The second half starts of in a similar manner, with lots of Italian defense in their goal and Toni firing yet another shot at the goals that again misses. In the 49th minute, Cahill is shown a yellow card for saying some words to the referee. One minute later, a red card is shown to Materazzi as he is charged with taking down Bresciano outside the box. I thought it was a yellow card offense and a bit harsh. Italy are now down to 10 men for the remaining 40 minutes. In the 55th minute, Luca Toni is substituted for another defender, Andrea Barzagli, in a move that looks like they are playing for a draw and only attacking on the counter.
In the 58th minute, my man of the match, Chipperfield turns and a blasts towards the goal but it is again saved by Buffon who is showing his class in goals. Chipperfield has had more shots on goal than Viduka and I thought he should have been substituted at the 60 minute mark. Wilkshire gets a yellow card in the 61st minute. Australia starts to send more men forward and the ball starts to spend a lot more time down the Italian end of the field. Del Piero falls over in the 65th minute and gets the free kick for Italy. Schwarzer forced to tip the Pierlo shot over the goal and Australia finally clears the following corner.
Totti makes his entrance for Itay after 74 minutes and the crowd goes nuts. Del Piero is taken out after a very quiet game. Make me wonder why Guus left Viduka on when his game was just as quiet. At 79 minutes, Cahill turns and trys his luck and gets a corner. The corner is headed over the bar by Cahill who is disappointed with his attempt.
81 minutes gone and Alosi comes in for Sterjovski. Hiddink looks for a late game goal but its a bit too late I thought. Two minutes after the substitution, Bresciano shoots with his left foot and it sails over the bar. At 88 minutes, Iaqunita and Neill wrestle in the Australian end as tempers start to flare due to the closeness of this game. Gattuso is shown a yellow card. Aloisi has a bicycle kick shot right on 90 minutes but mis-times it and misses the ball completely. Three minutes of injury time is added.
91 minutes gone and Zambrotta is booked for game delay. And now, at 93 minutes, the controversial event. Grosso goes down in the box. The referee awards a spot kick and Totti put the ball in the net and sucks his thumb like a baby. Feelings of disappointment, disbelief and sadness all at once – losing with 10 second left due to a dive. This game deserved extra time.