| dodo_man | 10-09-2006 11:50 PM |
Italian hands but Marcello Lippi's Azzurri were not the only ones celebrating after a FIFA World Cup™ where both the players and their German hosts gave football lovers so much to smile about.
From Germany's victory over Costa Rica in the Opening Match in Munich on 9 June to Italy's triumph over France in the Final in Berlin exactly one month later, events in Germany kept an estimated worldwide audience of more than 30 billion people captivated.
All looked on as a cast list incorporating 32 teams from Angola to the USA conspired to excite and enthral during a 64-match, 147-goal marathon attended by 3,359,439 people in the 12 stadiums – and millions more in Fan Fests across Germany.
Review how all 32 teams fared
At the end of it all, Italy finished on top thanks to a real team effort. Twenty-one of Lippi's 23-man squad played and ten of them found the net at these finals. With a defence built around goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and captain Fabio Cannavaro, Italy defended as well as any side in FIFA World Cup history, conceding just two goals – one an own goal, the other a penalty.
There much was else to admire, from the silk-and-steel midfield combination of Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso, to the swashbuckling raids of full-backs Gianluca Zambrotta and Fabio Grosso. It was the Grosso's goal that swung a superb semi-final against Germany the Italians' way and his penalty that sealed victory in the Final. | 