An injury-time penalty from substitute Francesco Totti took ten-man Italy past Australia and into the last eight of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Kaiserslautern yesterday afternoon. Totti, a 75th-minute replacement for Alessandro Del Piero, drove the spot-kick high into the net after Fabio Grosso had gone down under a Lucas Neill challenge just seconds before the final whistle.

Italy had been reduced to ten men following Marco Materazzi's red card five minutes into the second half and at that stage their followers might have feared a repeat of their loss to Guus Hiddink's Korea Republic at this stage four years ago. Instead, Totti's strike leaves the Azzurri looking forward to a quarter-final tie against the Ukraine in Hamburg on Friday. As for Hiddink's Australia team, they can head for home proud of their performance in Germany, having reached the Round of 16 on their first outing on the world stage in 32 years.

The Match

4': Mark Schwarzer, playing on his old club ground, returned to the Australia goal after being left out against Croatia and his goal came under threat early on. Luca Toni met a cross from the left but his header from the edge of the six-yard box went inches past the goalkeeper's left-hand post.

7': In a lively start, Alberto Gilardino attacked down the left and was poised to shoot when Craig Moore produced an excellent challenge.

18': Both sides settled after the early flurry of activity. Italy looking impenetrable, Australia firm in the challenge any time the ball was anywhere near a danger area.

22': Both sides settled after the early flurry of activity but the next opening was again at the Australian end. A fine ball from Andrea Pirlo picked out Toni but the striker's low shot after a sharp turn was saved by the legs of Schwarzer.

24': Gianluigi Buffon had his first touch of note soon after as Viduka rose high to meet a free-kick but it was a simple save for the Italy goalkeeper.

29': Australia came within a whisker of taking the lead when Neill flicked on a free-kick and Scott Chipperfield brought an instinctive save from Buffon with a low drive from 13 yards.

34': Following a good spell for the southern hemisphere side, two chances fell to Toni: first he had a shot blocked, then he headed over from close range.

41': The Azzurri threatened again as Toni stretched to reach a right-wing cross in front of goal, but failed to make contact.

48':There was an early chance for Italy when play resumed, but Toni shot well over.

50': As play switched quickly to the other end, Materazzi lunged in with a challenge on Marco Bresciano some five yards outside the penalty area and the Internazionale defender was immediately shown the red card. From the resultant free-kick Chipperfield shot wide.

55': Marcello Lippi decided he could not afford the luxury of leaving two strikers on and restored his defence to full strength by replacing Toni with Palermo defender Andrea Barzagli.

58': The Australians kept pushing forward and Chipperfield, latching onto a short ball from Neill, forced another save from Buffon.

63': Italy wasted a good chance on the break when Gennaro Gattuso overhit a ball intended for the unmarked Del Piero after a quick break caught Australia short in numbers in defence.

80': The hold-up play of Viduka and the trickery of Tim Cahill had caused problems throughout the game and the Australia midfielder only just cleared the crossbar with a header from a corner.

85': From substitute John Aloisi's cross, Viduka almost carved out a chance on the edge of the six-yard box but Buffon intervened. Hesitancy in the Australia defence moments later let in Vincenzo Iaquinta but he mishit his shot from some eight yards out.

89': From a right-wing cross, Aloisi went for a spectacular winner but an attempted overhead kick failed as he missed the ball.

90+4': Eight seconds from the end of the game Grosso broke into the Australia box and went to ground under Neill's tackle, and referee Luis Medina Cantalejo pointed to the penalty spot. Schwarzer went the right way, but Totti beat him with a powerful drive.

Heartbreak for an Australia side who produced one of their best performances on the international stage. But credit to Italy who for standing firm when down to ten men for the majority of the second half.

Marcello LIPPI (Coach): We were concerned about their high-tempo game and their tireless running, and because of that, we treated them with a lot of respect.
 

We contained them very well in the first half and carved out three clear chances for ourselves. They had no chances to speak of. After the break, I brought on (Vincenzo) Iaquinta to speed things up a bit, but then we went down to ten men. After that, the quality of our organisation and our spirit saw us through. We passed the ball well out of defence. Then at the end (Fabio) Grosso was superb and (Francesco) Totti perfect in tucking away the penalty. Let's hope that gives him a lift. He had trouble lasting the distance against the Czechs, and that's why I gave him a breather today. I intended bringing him on when the match had settled down and that's what I did.

Gianluigi BUFFON, Budweiser Man of the Match: I thought I played well even though I had less to do than in the previous match against the Czech Republic. I did well on the few occasions I was needed. I never thought the Australians would score, but in the second half I didn't think we would either. We’re a bit tired mentally, especially me as a goalkeeper with not very much to do. The events of Korea/Japan 2002 flashed before my eyes. I didn’t have the courage to watch (Francesco) Totti's penalty, not because I didn't have faith in him, but because I was so nervous. I didn't think he'd try a chip shot because he's too clever to do something like that at such a moment. We think we can go all the way to the Final in Berlin, that's our dream.

Francesco TOTTI: Today we showed that our fitness levels are good and we have the right mentality to go a long way. To get results you have to use your head and we did today. I had no intention of trying a chip shot with the penalty, I was just concentrating on scoring. (Marcello) Lippi came to see me at two this afternoon and explained why he was leaving me out. I have no problem with him. He showed faith in me and picked me for the squad. I respect his decisions. I’m fit and ready for the next matches.

Alberto GILARDINO: There's great desire to do well. Suspensions and injuries aren’t a problem because the squad’s big and we’ll do anything to stay in the tournament.

Luca TONI: We played very well in the first half and had four or five chances. We started well in the second half but then had the sending-off. Australia had most of the possession but we never stopped believing.

Vincenzo IAQUINTA: I came on and the team were immediately in difficulty due to (Marco) Materazzi’s red card. That made everything more difficult and the balance of the game was upset. In any event we defended very well. I was hoping we would win inside 90 minutes and we never stopped believing. Totti was very calm for the penalty, I knew he'd score. We’re a great team in that 20 of the 23 squad members have appeared. Team spirit is the key to everything, and we’re a good team aiming for Berlin.

Andrea BARZAGLI: I saw great team spirit this afternoon and a lot of happy faces at the end. As Francesco Totti took the penalty I thought of all of us, because you don’t now what to expect from him. I was very excited when the coach told me I was going on, but I had to contain myself as it’s part of the game. A last-minute win is a fantastic feeling.

Gennaro GATTUSO: They didn’t have a single shot on goal and the feeling was that they’d never score. It’s very satisfying to be one of the best eight teams in the world after everything that’s happened in our country. I’d rather meet Ukraine than Switzerland (in the next round) because the Swiss are better.

Fabio GROSSO: We can look forward now. I’m very happy to be part of this squad. I was desperate for us to score in normal time because we were down to ten men. I don’t know what would’ve happened if it had gone to extra time.

Marco MATERAZZI: I’m very disappointed I can’t play in the next game. When I looked into the referee’s eyes I knew it was useless to protest. I didn’t want to inflame the situation any further so I just walked towards the tunnel. I don’t think the referee had it in for us though. Still, I’m delighted with the result and Francesco Totti’s goal. I could only hope my team-mates would come through - and they did. (Andrea) Barzagli had a great game, hats off to him. We played well as a unit in the first half, but it was obvious we’d suffer with only ten men. Luckily Francesco (Totti) kept his nerve, and I have to say he played very well when he came on. Our team has tremendous will - we go onto the pitch convinced we’ll win. We need to keep our team spirit if we’re to claim the ultimate prize.