[Bogart]

Yes, you said it well. Mighty Germany played worse than Australia, in my opinion. Italy proved to be a great team, but I really hadn't any doubt about it.

a) They never lost a match
b) Nobody (but themselves) ever scored a goal against them
c) The only time they didn't win (1-1 with the United States) it was obviously because they weren't really playing at their best, as a lot of World Cup winners have done in the past

Playing the first round without employing the full strength of a team is a well-known strategy in football, often imposed by reasons like lack of time to prepare a team because players come from very physically demanding football league games. In 1982, Italy played all uninspiring matches in the first round (all draws, I think); in 1994, Brazil-Sweden ended in a 1-1 draw; in 1990, Brazil-Colombia ended in a draw; and I think we could find many more by looking at the history of the World Cup. As you people said, luck is part of the game, but not when a team arrives to the final game of the World Championship. As a football fan, regardless of my personal team preferences, I was just excited by Italy's brave attitude until the very last minutes of today's game, in a stadium filled with supporters of the home team, or by Zidane's way of playing like a wizard with the ball like no other Brazilian player was able to do in this championship. I really think this is what soccer is all about!

So, go Italy, go Portugal, go France!