Australia 0 – Italy 1

June 27, 2006

Australia crashes out of the World Cup in the cruelest possible way. A dodgy penalty awarded in the very last seconds of the match that was sent home by Francesco Totti.
It may sound bitter, but this was another game that was decided by poor refereeing. While good for most of the game, the final, crucial decision was very suspect and almost assured the end result. Following the useless efforts by the officials in the Japan and Croatia games, and looking at the other games that have been going on, it really takes the sheen off the tournament.
We still had two substitutions to make, which combined with the one man advantage after an Italian red card would have made extra time a very interesting affair were the teams allowed to fight it out. That being said, Australia perhaps did not apply the pressure that the advantage lent them.

In a nutshell, disappointing and cruel.

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