German dreams of reaching the FIFA World Cup Final on home soil died in Dortmund as two goals in the final moments of extra time carried Italy into the Final as 2-0 semi-final winners last night. With a penalty shoot-out looming, Fabio Grosso broke the deadlock in the 119th minute as he curled a left-footed shot past the despairing dive of Jens Lehmann from the right side of the penalty box. Substitute Alessandro Del Piero made sure of Italy's place in the Final when he beat Lehmann from close range in added time at the end of the extra period.

The Match

Italy knew they could not afford to take on Germany in a penalty contest. In FIFA World Cups German efficiency does not permit failure from 12 yards – they have come out on top in every penalty showdown they've contested while Italy have known only suffering: three defeats in three. So if the Azzurri were going to march on to Berlin on 9 July they had to do the business before the 120 minutes were up.

The clock inside the Dortmund stadium showed 119 minutes when they struck. There was barely time for Germany to respond. But just to make sure, Italy broke away and scored again. The hopes of a home nation who have contributed so much to making this a successful FIFA World Cup were reduced to dust and carried away on the night air.

The dream of a second triumph in their own tournament is no more. Instead it is Marcello Lippi's men who have the opportunity to put four FIFA World Cups in their locker. In their sixth Final, Italy will face either France or Portugal who meet in the second semi-final in Munich today. Had Germany prevailed they would have arrived in Berlin with their energy reserves severely depleted. Jurgen Klinsmann's brave troops had toiled through extra time and penalties to see off the challenge of Argentina. Another long, exhausting shift followed last night before Italy cut through just as time was running out.

Their late show brought joy to a country where football means so much but which over recent weeks has had to look seriously at itself with an investigation into allegations of match-fixing threatening to relegate four of their biggest clubs. One of those is AC Milan who provided the Man of the Match in Andrea Pirlo. Another is Juventus who provided the second goalscorer last night in Alessandro Del Piero who applied a smart finish from Alberto Gilardino's neat pass. While the smart money insisted that the turmoil back home would affect Italy's chances here in a negative way, perhaps the opposite is true. Perhaps they have been motivated to pull out something extra. Perhaps, as Lippi has insisted all along, it’s had no effect whatsoever.

It was a tough challenge for them last tonight with the host nation surfing a tidal wave of euphoria. The venue threatened to be significant as well: Germany had never lost in Dortmund, 14 games played before tonight and only Wales holding out for a draw. Against that they had never beaten Italy in four attempts at FIFA World Cups.

Klinsmann chose to replace the suspended Torsten Frings with Sebastian Kehl, a Borussia Dortmund player who knows the special atmosphere of this stadium all too well. He also took the decision to stand down Bastian Schweinsteiger with Tim Borowski given the responsibility of making those left-midfield surges. Concern among the Italian supporters centred on whether their idols would stay strong with a gigantic prize so close at hand and in the face of such noise and fervour. They needn’t have worried, their creative players got on the ball from the first whistle and began posing questions. In the sides' friendly fixture in Florence in March Italy were two ahead inside seven minutes on their way to a 4-1 victory. It was never going to be like that here although Italy again had the better of the first half.
 

Player of the Day: Andrea Pirlo – a cool head and pinpoint passing

Pirlo rarely wasted a ball and Francesco Totti similarly bestrode the central areas with assurance. They were able to find their forward runners with regularity. But at the same time they needed Fabio Cannavaro to show his qualities at the back with a couple of timely challenges. It was nip and tuck all the way through the 90 minutes.

Moment of the Day: The whistle to start extra time

Italy knew they had to produce something special now. It revealed itself in their approach as immediately Alberto Gilardino screwed a shot against Jens Lehmann's left-hand post. A minute later Gianluca Zambrotta ran on to a loose ball but his rising effort kissed the bar on its way over. It was never going to reprise 1970 when the teams scored the highest number of extra-time goals (five in a 4-3 Italy victory) but these were close calls. Germany were also going all out for the win and Podolski will look back with regret on a headed chance he powered wide.

Goal of the Day: Fabio Grosso: Italy 1-0

The breakthrough came as Pirlo bided his time in possession before ushering Grosso into space. The defender’s curling left-footer gave Lehmann no chance and with Del Piero adding a second it left Germany to contemplate the Match for Third Place while Italy have the Big Prize in their sights.

Marcello LIPPI (Coach): It would have been unfair if we hadn't won or if it had gone to penalties. Our game was on a higher level to Germany's tonight – we hit the post and the bar, and we had the better of the play. The hosts can have no complaints. We are incredibly happy to have played here in Germany and won despite the fact that there were 60,000 supporters against us. That shows the true character of my team. They played with a lot of confidence and kept possession very well. I’m extremely satisfied and am sure that all Italian fans will be just as pleased today.

It was clear that the end of the extra time would be decisive, which is why I brought on another attacker. As the game wore on, our quality began to shine through more and more, but nevertheless, we would still have been ready for penalties. We had a lot more of the possession overall and that gave us a certain confidence, even if we didn't manage to create that many chances. I’m pleased that Alessandro Del Piero was one of the players who helped to turn the match in our favour. That's not the end of it, though. Now we have to see who we will play in the Final, but we'll take whoever comes – we don't have any preferences.

Andrea PIRLO (ITA), Budweiser Man of the Match: It was a fantastic game, absolutely overflowing with emotions. It was a childhood dream for me to play in a semi-final. I think that we earned our win today. We created a lot of chances, and we also definitely had the luck we needed.

Gianluigi BUFFON: We wanted to reach the Final and we’ve done it. (Marcello) Lippi made sure we were really up for it. I thank my team-mates for having scored two wonderful goals. I started to think about penalties from the beginning of the second half. All our wins are down to team spirit. They say Italy reach the Final every 12 years, and we’ve done it this time as well. Now we hope to go on and win.

Alessandro DEL PIERO: You could all see how happy I was when I scored. We were desperate to win. The quality of this team lies in the strength of the squad. I’m not thinking about Sunday yet, I’m going to enjoy this moment and reflect on what we’ve done up to now. The job isn’t finished yet though.

Fabio GROSSO: What a feeling and it’s because of our team spirit and the work we’ve done. The match was very hard. We were already thinking about penalties when luckily I scored. I shed tears of joy, I just couldn’t believe it. The Final will be just as difficult and memorable. I dedicate the goal to my wife, son and everyone else who wants the best for me.

Gianluca ZAMBROTTA: We’re happy, it’s what we wanted and it’s a great feeling knowing we’re in the Final. They put us under pressure but we also created lots of chances. At the end of the day, we’re a great team and we deserved to win.