Italy cruised into the semi-finals of Germany 2006 with a convincing 3-0 victory over Ukraine in Dortmund on Friday. A sixth-minute strike from Gianluca Zambrotta set the tone for the evening and a second-half brace from Luca Toni merely compounded the misery for Oleg Blokhin’s side. Oleg Gusev, Andriy Gusin and Maksym Kalinichenko all went close for Ukraine, but were denied by a combination of the woodwork and some excellent goalkeeping by Gianluigi Buffon. Italy now turn their attentions to a semi-final tie with the hosts in Dortmund on Tuesday, 4 July, while FIFA World Cup debutants Ukraine will return home justifiably proud of their efforts.

The Match

4': Italy began brightly, with a positive, driving run from Mauro Camoranesi ending with the Juventus midfielder going for goal with a right-foot shot that curled just wide of the left-hand post from 20 yards.

6': Within the space of two minutes, the Azzurri had stormed into the lead, Zambrotta gathering possession at right-back, racing down the wing, cutting in on his left foot and lashing the ball low and hard into the back of the net from just outside the box. The unsighted Olexsandr Shovkovskyi will have been disappointed to be beaten at his near post, but the power in the Juventus defender's shot left the keeper with little chance. (1-0)

17': Francesco Totti, back in the starting line-up after his penalty heroics against Australia, tried his luck with a free-kick from 30 yards, but the ball skidded low along the turf and safely into the arms of Shovkovskyi.

27': The oft-isolated Andriy Shevchenko found space inside the box for the first time in the match, but though he rose well, his header was wayward and Buffon remained untroubled.

33': Frustrated by the lack of success of those ahead of him, Ukraine’s midfield dynamo Anatoliy Tymoschuk seized the initiative, bursting forward from deep and unleashing a ferocious 30-yard drive that flew no more than a couple of feet wide of Buffon’s right-hand post.

41': As Ukraine grew in confidence, Shevchenko again drifted away from his marker on the edge of the box, but on this occasion Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro closed in quickly and took the sting out of the Chelsea striker’s left-foot shot, which bounced safely through to the alert Buffon.

45+1': With half-time approaching, Ukraine coach Blokhin was forced into his second substitution of the opening half, replacing the injured Andriy Rusol with Vladyslav Vashchuk.

46': Italy started the second half as they had the first, attacking. Toni led the charge, bulldozing his way down the inside-right channel and into a good shooting position only to scuff his effort into the side-netting.

50’: Ukraine enjoyed their best spell of the match, forcing Andrea Barzagli into a near-disastrous sliced clearance and then calling Buffon into his first save of note. Gusin must have thought that he had done enough by directing a powerful downward header just inside the left-hand post, but Buffon has rescued the Azzurri on countless occasions and he did so again, diving to tip the ball on to the post and wide.

58': Italy survived, but only just, after Buffon produced another remarkable save to deny Gusev at point-blank range. In truth, the Ukraine midfielder should have scored, and so too should Gusin on the follow-up, but his shot was straight enough to allow Zambrotta to make a desperate goal-line clearance.

59': Ukraine were made to pay for their profligacy inside a minute. With play having flowed to the other end, Totti flighted in an inswinging cross so inviting that Toni, stooping low, only needed to get his head to the ball to send it flashing beyond the statuesque Shovkovskyi from seven yards. (2-0)

62': If they had not already realised that this was not to be their night, Ukraine saw this confirmed when the luckless Gusin saw his looping header come crashing back off the face of the crossbar with Buffon, for once, beaten.

69’: Any lingering doubts about the outcome of this match were removed altogether when Zambrotta, this time popping up on the left, sprung the Ukraine offside trap and slid the ball across for Toni to score the simplest of second goals, tapping into the empty net from all of three yards. (3-0)
 

79': Shevchenko attempted to make his mark on proceedings with a powerfully-struck 30-yard free-kick, but Buffon was always behind it and comfortably fisted the ball to safety.

86': Ukraine substitute Oleksiy Belik found space inside the area to divert Gusev’s cross goalwards, but Italy's ice-cool keeper simply reached up to his left and plucked the ball coolly out of the air.

90': Toni was presented with a golden opportunity to complete his hat-trick, but after breaking clear of the Ukraine defence, his attempt to flick the ball beyond Shovkovskyi was unconvincing and the keeper was able to gather comfortably.

Italy produced, arguably, their most accomplished all-round performance at Germany 2006 to date, firing a timely warning to the hosts ahead of their semi-final meeting in Dortmund on 4 July, set up after Germany dismissed Argentina yesterday.

From the very offset, Marcello Lippi's side always looked the more menacing and potent of the two, and though a only a combination of ill luck, Buffon’s brilliance and poor finishing prevented Ukraine pulling a goal back in the second half, there can be no doubt that the best side march on to the semis.

Marcello LIPPI (Coach): This is a very satisfying win but we don’t want to stop here, we haven’t reached our objective yet. I said before the match if we beat Ukraine then anything is possible. We’ll think about Germany when we’ve seen the other matches. It’s going to be very tough but we’ll give it everything we’ve got. A (Luca) Toni and (Francesco) Totti strike force? I'm very pleased, it’s good to have them back. I’d like to add that the whole squad dedicates the victory to Gianluca Pessotto.

Gennaro GATTUSO (Budweiser Man of the Match): This win is dedicated to all the Italians here in Germany. We’re very happy but we now have to focus on our next game. It’s going to be tough but we’ll be giving it everything we’ve got to try and reach the Final. Most of the stadium will be against us, but we’re used to that from European club football. You don’t notice the fans when you’re on the pitch, they’re not playing. Germany or Argentina wouldn’t have made any difference. Is it or is it not a World Cup semi-final?

Luca TONI: I have been a little affected by the criticism I've received. I dedicate these two goals to all those who kept faith in me even when things didn’t seem to be going too well. Am I like Paolo Rossi? I don’t know about that, but I feel good. Let’s hope so. Anyway, we’re delighted. We wanted to reach the semi-final at all costs and we even managed to do it in some style. Italy against Germany will be a very hard match. They’re very competitive but I’m sure we’ll perform on the night.

Fabio CANNAVARO: Their attack was very dangerous but we managed to keep them out. They’re a very physical team and we suffered a bit because of that. (Andriy) Shevchenko played very well but luckily we stopped him from causing us too many problems.

Gianluca ZAMBROTTA: I’m very happy everybody played well. We were very determined this evening and didn’t let our concentration slip. I was already on a yellow card so I’m pleased I wasn’t booked.

Andrea PIRLO: I’m very pleased to be part of one of the four best teams in the world. This was our minimum objective before the tournament. We saw some of the Germany-Argentina game and I have to say we’ll give the Germans plenty of respect. However, we’re feeling good and we’re certainly not afraid of them.