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After a match full of struggles, Italy celebrated a victory against Australia when Francesco Totti scored a penalty kick in the 90th minute. The Italians finished the match with one player short: Marco Materazzi received a red card in the 51st minute.
Italy 1 - 0 Australia 90' [1 - 0] Francesco Totti (11 m.)
Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso, Simone Perrotta, Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Del Piero (Francesco Totti), Gennaro Gattuso, Alberto Gilardino (Vicenzo Iaquinta), Luca Toni (Andrea Barzagli)
Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Craig Moore, Scott Chipperfield, Jason Culina, Vincenzo Grella, Tim Cahill, Marco Bresciano, Mile Sterjovski (John Aloisi), Mark Viduka, Luke Wilkshire
At the beginning of the match, the first dangerous moment happened near the Australian goal, but the ball flew wide after Luca Toni's header.
As the first half progressed, the game slowed down, with both teams focusing more on their defense. The Italian team mostly relied on simple passes and long balls to get their attackers in a good position.
Later on, Alberto Gilardino and Luca Toni had shots on goal, but Mark Schwarzer played reliably in Australia's goal. Australia responded with a shot from Mark Viduka, but it didn't pose a significant threat to the Italian goal.
In the 30th minute, Australia's Scott Chipperfield took a dangerous shot on goal, but Gianluigi Buffon made a secure save.
A few minutes later, Andrea Pirlo played a header to L. Toni, but Toni's shot missed the target.
The score was 0-0 after a rather dull first half.
Australia started the second half more actively, and their efforts paid off: Italy was left with a numerical disadvantage after defender Marco Materazzi received a red card. After this incident, Italy's coach Marcello Lippi had to strengthen the defense - Andrea Barzagli replaced the actively playing Luca Toni on the field.
Even with a numerical advantage on the field, Australia couldn't create any significant chances near the opponent's goal. Meanwhile, Italy retreated to their half and relied on counterattacks.
Around the 75th minute, an Australian player Mark Bresciano attempted a long-range shot, but Gianluigi Buffon caught the weakly struck ball.
Moments later, Tim Cahill, Australia's defender, headed the ball from a corner kick, but the ball flew over the goal.
Just before the end of the second half, Italy stepped up their game, while Australia seemed to be waiting for the second half to end. Italy pressed the Australian team towards their goal.
Already in added time, Italian defender Fabio Grosso broke into the penalty area, where he was brought down. The referee awarded a penalty kick, which was successfully converted by Francesco Totti, who came on as a substitute. With this goal, the match ended with a 1-0 victory for Italy.
