ITALIA: 4TH TIME WORLD CUP CHAMPS!!!

*woohoo*

i'm still reeling from shock. but definitely in utter ecstacy! :)
ITALY DID IT!
they earned themselves the 4th star on their jerseys!

to be honest, this morning match was kinda boring. and i really hate it that it has to end with penalties. thats always a cruel way to decide the winners.
i still feel that the penalty given in the 7th min is kinda dubious. as far as i can see, materazzi was going for the ball and seemed to pull himself back from tackling Malouda.
anyway, zidane sent it into the net and made my spirits sank. lucky ass! that ball went in despite hitting the bar. bleh.

luckily i only suffered for awhile before materazzi sent that wonderful header in! talking of this equaliser, im totally in awe with pirlo! he has proved himself again and again that he's one of the best attacking midfielder i ever seen! that corner cross was totally spot on. and i feel that he took on zidane much better than gattuso.. oops.

that pirlo (#23) and zidane in an odd position.

and im totally in love with cannavaro now. for his great leadership, for his superd ariel skills when he's only 1.75m, for not getting a single card for the 7 matches despite being a defender!
he's a different kind of captain as compared to maldini but he sure rises above the occasion for this tournament!
he's one of my favourites for italy team! together with totti, pirlo & gattusso!
cannavaro like an eagle, leaving the opponents to eat the dust!

look at how high he can jump while zidane looks on in amazement! ha.

no italy post goes without my golden boy.

im very fond of totti and have faith in him taking on any matches. but sadly, he came into and exit the world cup very very very quietly (lest for the winning penalty shot against the socceroos). let's hope i can still see him play a little for Euro 2008. dont think he will be back for world cup 2010, perhaps only as a supersub.

and so italy continues the cycle of entering the finals every 12 years, winning on alternate times.
1970 (1st runner up), 1982 (winner), 1994 (1st runner up) and now 2006 (WINNER!).
statistics can be amazing. like how they win germany in the semi-finals as they've never lost to the german at world cup level.
but its a good thing they won on penalties this time round for statistics ALSO shown that italy has never win on penalties before this morning.

after supporting them for 12 years and waiting for 12 years to see them finally lift the cup, i teared this morning. such a wuss. ha.

some lighthearted moments. materazzi putting an italian hat on the cup. iaquinta scratching his head over this bizarre move. totti, looks on with italy flat over his head.

and now, first thing first is to grab the newpaper for more coverage on the match. and finding a way to handle the withdrawal symptoms from no more world cup. and looking forward to 2010.

it has been a great 2006 world cup. :)