Italy - 3 Ukraine - 0: Italy crept into the semi-finals last night in a game which was half afterthought and half foregone conclusion. The Italians, slaloming from scandal to sick ward in the last few days, have found a sanctuary from their sorrows on the field. An early goal in Hamburg was enough to ensure their serenity was unbroken and Ukraine would be going home. It was a bonus when Luca Toni burst into life in the second half with two goals which stretched the margin into the realms of glorious.
There were empty seats in the stadium last night, the first time in this World Cup that such disinterest has been shown. The absentees can be forgiven. Germany was just beginning the mother of all parties, and what good feelings there were for Ukraine disappeared with that dour draw against the Swiss.
Forgivable or not, those who stayed away missed a decent and surprising game and another stage in the metamorphosis of an Italian team which truly believes.
With Marcello Lippi tinkering yet again with his side, Mauro Camoranesi came in for Alberto Gilardino, but Luca Toni got another chance to redeem himself.
The Ukrainians made three changes meanwhile. Artem Milevsky came in up front for the injured Andriy Voronin. Vladislav Vashchuk and Andriy Vorobey were left out, with Viacheslav Svidersky and Andriy Rusol coming in.
Italy started well. More than that. It's fair to say that by the time Zambrotta swept a low, long-range shot to the Ukraine net after just five minutes that we had seen it coming. Camoranesi had cut inside after just three minutes and thumped a similar shot just wide. Zambrotta, a little further out but from the same angle, got the measurements right.
Ukraine, as befits a team bejewelled by Shevchenko, were not without their own attacking ideas, of course, and the leonine mane of Maksym Kalinichenko flowed as they pushed forward occasionally with lots of short, crisp passing, but apparently no access to the final killer pass.
The Italian defence, though, were, as expected, excellent. Holding the line well and staying compact in recognition of Ukraine's complete lack of threat down the wings, they smothered most moves calmly and initiated their own attacks.
The Ukrainians contented themselves for the rest of the half with speculative shots. Anatoly Tymoshcuk went close on half an hour. Shevchenko came close with a daisy cutter just before the interval. The Italians, a goal to the good and with the scent of victory in their nostrils, were nonplussed.
What resistance there was from Ukraine found its highest form in the minutes after the break. They came out in positive mood and set about the Italians with more invention and pace than they had shown in all of the first half. A few close misses and a couple of crosses that just needed a toe applied to them as they passed in front of goal looked like being their lot, until the 58th minute when all hell broke loose in the Italian area.
They were stretched and humiliated by two incredible chances. First Gianluigi Buffon made a fine and despairing save from Oleg Gusev before Zambrotta, destined for sainthood surely despite his Juve connections, made an unbelievable clearance on his line to keep Kalinichenko out.
We drew breath and pondered the obvious. Either this was the start of something for Ukraine or they were about to be mugged. A minute later Francesco Totti took receipt from a short corner and swung a cross in from the left, the Ukrainians, still pondering what we were pondering, ignored Toni who jetted in for a close-range header. Two-nil and all over.
All over except for the Luca Toni show. Italians of optimistic disposition have been looking at their scandal-ridden team and noting all the eerie similarities between them and their 1982 predecessors. Back then, Enzo Bearzot persisted with Paolo Rossi until he burst to life with a hat-trick against Brazil in the quarter-finals. Now, say they seers, Luca Toni is doing the same.
They got more grist for their mill 10 minutes later. Once again Zambrotta, the man of the match by a distance, did the damage, galloping down the left this time and putting a low cross into Toni's path for a simple tap-in.
We stuck with the action to see if the Ukrainians would get the goal which they deserved or if Toni would get the hat-trick which would allow us know for certain that he is really Paolo Rossi. Neither happened, although Shevchenko permitted us a few glimpses of his magic.
Some teams come to a World Cup with destiny tattooed on their wrists. Germany have that aura, but when a hungover nation comes to sometime late this morning it will discover that next Tuesday night they play another team so blessed. Germany look like winners. So do Italy. Something has got to give.
SUBSTITUTIONS
ITALY: Barone for Pirlo (68), Zaccardo for Gattuso (76 mins), Oddo for Camoranesi (68). Subs not used: Amelia, Del Piero, Gilardino, Iaquinta, Inzaghi, Nesta, Peruzzi.
UKRAINE: Vorobey for Svidersky (20 mins), Vashchuk for Rusol (45 mins), Byelik for Milevsky (72 mins). Subs not used: Nazarenko, Pyatov, Rebrov, Rotan, Shust, Voronin, Yatsenko, Yezersky. Booked: Svidersky, Kalinichenko, Milevsky.
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium).
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