Accendiamo a Berlino ed alla vittoria!

The biggest game so far -- and the Azzurri won, 2-0, at the very end of overtime. This is, I believe, the game-winning goal in the 119th minute.

I sat down and watched the whole game -- I was as tense as I get during a close Green Bay game. The whole time, The Wife was saying that she thought the Germans were really cute (and disliking key Italian player Mauro Camaronesi's long hair) and some amazing saves got made by an extraordinary German keeper. But the Italian keeper made some amazing stops, too, and the Italians played more aggressively.

This was especially true in the second overtime period -- you could tell the Germans were confident they could win on penalty kicks, and the Italians were also pretty sure the Germans had an edge if it went that far. So the last fifteen minutes were desparate, balls-to-the-wall play by the Azzurri and as much keep-away as the Germans could muster.

The final is Sunday in Berlin, against the winner of Portugal-France. (The Wife thinks that Portugal are way cuter than France.) Italy will be the favorite. Avanti!