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The Italian national team became a participant of the second semi-final of the World Cup - on Friday in the quarterfinals Italians, after a fierce battle, defeated the Ukrainian team with a score of 3-0 and advanced to the four strongest teams on the planet. In the semi-final, Italy will meet the tournament host Germany.
Hamburg AOL Arena, 50,000 spectators Referee - Frank de Bleeckere (Belgium) Italy 3 - 0 Ukraine 6' [1 - 0] Gianluca Zambrotta 59' [2 - 0] Luca Toni 69' [3 - 0] Luca Toni Italy: Buffon; Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Barzagli, Grosso; Perrotta, Pirlo (68' Barone), Gattuso (76' Zaccardo), Camoranesi (68' Oddo); Totti; Toni Ukraine: Shovkovskiy; Nesmachniy, Sviderskiy (20' Vorobey), Rusol (45' Vashchuk), Tymoschuk; Shelayev, Gusev, Gusin, Kalinichenko; Milevskiy (72' Byelik), Shevchenko. The Italians started the match much more focused and concentrated, unlike their opponents - the Ukrainian footballers. Right from the very first minutes of the match, the Italians pressed the Ukrainians in their half and tried to attack the opponents' goal with dangerous attacks. These efforts paid off, as in the 6th minute, after seizing the ball impressively with a long-range shot, defender Gianluca Zambrotta scored a goal against goalkeeper Aleksandr Shovkovskyi, putting the Italians ahead with a score of 1-0.
A bit later, the hero of the match against Australia, Francesco Totti, tried his luck with a penalty kick from about 27 meters, but the shot was unsuccessful and was easily saved by the Ukrainian goalkeeper.
In the middle of the first half, Andrei Shevchenko found himself unexpectedly in the Italian penalty area and dangerously attempted to attack the opponents' goal with a header, but Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon confidently dealt with the situation, not causing him any major concerns.
As the first half was drawing to a close, the Ukrainians began to attack the Italian goal more and more. In the 41st minute of the match, Shevchenko, being on the left, once again tried to test Buffon's goal, but his shot was blocked by Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro.
