DORTMUND, July 4: Italy beat Germany 2-0 on Tuesday after Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero each scored late in extra time to put their team in the World Cup final.
Grosso curled a left-footed shot past the diving Jens Lehmann in the 119th to put the three-time champions into Sunday’s final against either France or Portugal. Del Piero added another in injury time.
In the first half of extra time, Italy started out the better team, Alberto Gilardino getting inside the German defence and sending a soft shot past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and off the post.
The ball rolled across the front of the open goal but there were no other Italian players to score.
A minute later, Gianluca Zambrotta sent a hard shot from outside the area off the crossbar.
The two teams were level 0-0 after 90 minutes, Germany having more of the chances.
Miroslav Klose, the tournament’s leading scorer with five goals, dribbled through three Italians before falling in the penalty area early in the second half.
Gianluigi Buffon made a two-handed save on Lukas Podolski’s turnaround left-footer from close range, then Arne Friedrich shot over the net. As Italy tired, Germany kept coming.
But the Italians had allowed only an own-goal against the United States in five games, and their technique carried them even when their legs didn’t want to.—AP
