On this day in 2006, Francesco Totti’s controversial late penalty saw Italy past Australia at the World Cup.
The Azzurri had come through as winners of Group E, defeating the Czech Republic 2-0 in the final round to set up the meeting with the Socceroos.
Alessandro Del Piero replaced Francesco Totti in the starting line-up, and his early left-footed cross was headed wide by Luca Toni at the back post.
On this day in 2006, Francesco Totti’s controversial late penalty saw Italy past Australia at the World Cup.
The Azzurri had come through as winners of Group E, defeating the Czech Republic 2-0 in the final round to set up the meeting with the Socceroos.
Alessandro Del Piero replaced Francesco Totti in the starting line-up, and his early left-footed cross was headed wide by Luca Toni at the back post.
The Fiorentina striker was yet to score in the tournament, and he drove a shot against the legs of Mark Schwarzer after a fine lofted through ball from Andrea Pirlo.
At the other end, Gianluigi Buffon had to get down sharply to deny Scott Chipperfield, grasping the rebound before Mark Viduka could tuck it home.
Five minutes into the second half, the Azzurri went down to 10-men when Marco Materazzi was shown a straight red for his challenge on Mark Bresciano.
While the centre-back did go in with two feet, there wasn’t a great deal of aggression in the challenge, nor much contact with the Australian player.
The Socceroos were emboldened, and Buffon once again had to beat away a shot from Chipperfield.
Italy had a good chance on the break, but Gennaro Gattuso sent his cross over Del Piero’s head when the Juventus man was unmarked at the back post.
Del Piero was withdrawn with 15 minutes remaining, with Totti coming on to replace him.
He would have a decisive impact on the match, and it started with his raking ball to Fabio Grosso on the left flank.
The left-back surged forward, passing Bresciano with ease before surging into the penalty box.
Lucas Neill then slid in to challenge the Italian full-back, who knocked the ball past him. It was a silly challenge by the Australian defender, but Grosso engineered the contact, much to the fury of the Socceroos.
Totti stepped up to take the penalty, with the clock having ticked past the 95th minute.
If the Roma captain was nervous he didn’t show it, smashing his shot into the top corner and taking Italy through to face Ukraine.