Last kick heartbreak for Socceroos
Totti topples Socceroos
Ukraine reign as Swiss miss in bore draw
—– Australia’s dreams of a place in the World Cup quarter-finals are shattered as, for the first time in the competition’s history, a finals game is decided in normal time by a last minute penalty.
The Socceroos looked to have every chance of another historic victory as they were about to take ten-man Italy in to extra-time in their Round of 16 tie in the heat of Kaiserslautern.
The deluge of red cards continued with Marco Materazzi harshly sent-off after 51 minutes.
Referee Luis Medina Cantalejo then, as the game entered added time, judged that Fabio Grosso was fouled as he fell over Lucas Neill’s prone body.
Totti, who had come on as a 75th minute sub, kept his nerve to hit the winner with the last kick of the game.
Aussie coach Guus Hiddink gives a very honest appraisal of the afternoon’s events: “You can have doubts about the penalty; it was questionable.
“We are very disappointed because we were so close. I think the only thing we can blame ourselves for is that we were not deadly enough in the area.”
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—– In their first World Cup finals, Ukraine progress to the quarter-finals.
At the end of a turgid game in Cologne, the Round of 16 tie with Switzerland goes to the first penalty shoot-out of Germany 2006 after 120 goalless and largely lifeless minutes.
The Swiss pay the price for their lack of ambition and lose the shoot-out 0-3.
In doing so, they become the first-ever team to be knocked out of the finals without conceding a goal in the tournament. They are also the first team to fail to score in a penalty shoot-out.
Despite losing their first group game 0-4, Ukraine now face Italy in the last eight.
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