In the 2006 semi-final, Italy faced the host nation Germany, who were hoping to win the title on home soil.
The match was a tight affair and despite several great chances it would stay scoreless after 90 minutes.
It went into extra-time and Italy appeared more likely to score against a tired German side, hitting the woodwork twice.
It looked though as if Germany could save themselves into a penalty shootout, which the Germans would definitely have welcomed given both countries history of penalty kicks.
With one minute remaining though, the drama unfolded and Germany would receive a knockout punch by Fabio Grosso.
Italy won a corner kick and sent several bodies up the field to try to get the winner. The initial corner was headed out by the German defence but went right to Andrea Pirlo.
The Italian mastermind held onto the ball and sent a brilliant pass to Grosso, passing four German defenders.
Grosso hit it first time and curled it beautifully passed the German keeper Jens Lehman. The stadium (full of Germans) went silent as they saw the Italians celebrating in sheer ecstasy.
Grosso sprinted all over the pitch screaming for joy and the Italians knew Germany couldn’t come back from this knockout punch.
Even worse for the hosts, just a moment later, Alessandro Del Piero put the icing on the cake, as he made it 2-0 for Italy.
Italy went on to beat France in the World Cup final where Grosso again would be one of the hero’s but that’s a story for another day…
His last-minute winner against Germany is the latest ever winner in semi-final history and one of the all-time most memorable goals in the World Cup.
NLO: Ogunowo Blames Lack Of Sponsors On Country’s Economy
Chief Operating Officer, COO of Nigeria Nationwide League One, NLO,…
