text: i'm totally sick - how pathetic can underdogs be? why is it that especially those that have nothing to say when it comes to football/soccer (as it is not their major national sport) argue about a great team like italy now that they passed to qf? what did you expect from your teams?! to win the world cup?!? football is not only goals, it's also strategy and tactics!! italy might not have the nicest way to win, but they win and that is what counts!! would you aussie and american guys argue if the penalty-situation was the other way around?! 1 let me be very clear it was not a penalty, but that is not a fault of the italians. italians , spanish, french all these players have always had the tendency to go for penalties, its their game like it or not. why blame them only ? anyone remember rivaldo against turkey in 2002 group league, he faked to get a penalty. brazilians do it too !!! it was the refs fault why blame italy ?  2 aussies played very very well, but they have to accept the fact that their finishing was pooor , & they created very little despite having a man advantage. they never looked like scoring & winning the match. on the contrary italy had better openings.  3 ref was poor , but again materazzi's red card was harsh, 11 against 11 would have been a different game.   4 italy did defend very well, give them credit for that.    5  i agree there has been a mess in serie a but you can never undermine the quality, italian clubs have won european competitions more than any other country , check the records. italy hve won 3 wcs, they are the first & only european country to win back to back wc. also they have the 3rd best record in wc next to brazil & germany, better than argentina or england, you have to accept that they are good.  some people say they have little sucess in recent times well check this 1978-  4th 1982- champs 1986 - quarter finals 1990 - 3rd 1994 - 2nd 1998 - quarter finals 2002 - 2nd round they have not last a wc knockout match in normal time since 1986, and have reached semifinals in 4 of last 7 wcs, they have played 16 wcs which is 2nd to brazil.