forza italia!

'realization of a dream'

that one line sums up the Italian march to the World Cup Final. if you watched the semi-final against Germany then you can have valid claims to have been part of one of the greatest displays of 'catenaccio' soccer, a term patented by the Italians, meaning 'door-bolt'.. signifying the system where you score once and then 'shut up shop' using hard-working defense. all offensive attempts after that are concentrated on the counter-attack.

Italy beat Germany 2-0 mere minutes ago.. striking twice late late in extra time after keeping the home team at bay for 118 minutes until then! as you can expect, i was sitting glued to the tv, in my #7 Italian blue jersey, biting off my fingernails until the last few frenetic minutes sent me and Italia supporters all over the world into raptures.

now a little more about the blue jersey.. #7 is the number worn by a certain player known as Alessandro Del Piero, who is my God and Almighty as far as all things soccer go. i even wrote this farewell tribute to him two years ago, little did i know that he would come back to the greatest stage of soccer for one last time

arrivederci

my friends, it is with a very heavy heart i sit here to write this.. only the cruellest juxtaposition of the stars would serve to eliminate Italy, yet the trajectories did cross, and the azzurri are out of Euro 2004.. with it bringing to a certain end the international careers of three great Italian forwards.. Christian Vieri, Pippo Inzaghi and, and.. and Alessandro Del Piero.. who at 29 has had his legs fail him yet again on the international stage.. 24 goals and 66 caps say nothing about his amazing talent, leadership and gift of reading the game.

i have followed Alex since '93.. when he first stepped into Roberto Baggio's shoes.. and immediately became Juventus' wonderkid.. and testament to his faith and belief in the bianconeri, the man dubbed as 'il pinturicchio' has never played for any other club at the highest level. i have been with him through all his highs and lows.. five Serie A titles, four Champions League finals (3 consecutive), 1 Inter - Continental club cup win, 3 Copa Italia finals.. and the big championships.. Euro '96 when he was in the squad that got eliminated by Czech Rep. drawing 3-3 with Russia, World Cup '98 when Cesare Maldini's indecision over Del Piero and Baggio led to France shutting them out on penalties, Euro 2000 when Del Piero was heavily blamed for not scoring in the final and France pulling back to beat them on golden goal, World Cup 2002 when trap could not decide whether to play with Totti and/or Del Piero, and now Euro 2004 where Trap is playing him on the left tip of his arrowhead formation.. it has been a very frustrating international career for Alex.. plus the numerous niggling injuries he has picked up in the Serie A, truly the toughest defensive league in the world. one hopes he still has it in him to play World Cup 2006, but he remains one of the greatest players to have never won an international crown.. grazie Alessandro, buona fortuna for the future, and arrivederci for now. maybe it's time for me to hang up my Italia no. 7 jersey..

i am so glad he made me pull out my jersey from the depths of the closet once again, and show it off with pride as he ran onto a clever backheel and curled the ball exquisitely around the German goalie to score yet one more goal, and seal the deal 2-0 with the last kick of the game. so i leave you with some images from that goal, Alex curving the ball in, and takes off in celebration..