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Wow! What to say?!?!?!? Well, first off CONGRATULATIONS ITALY!!! Our BBC commentators were not totally enthralled by this match - or by the way that the Italians played it. OK, it wasn't the most wonderful of games from a spectator point of view - but the Italians had played like this throughout the tournament; it had been successful; why would they change tonight??
Oh, there was too much to go through! (Match report from the Official site below). Zambrotta got sent off on 33 minutes. Silly, reckless tackles; two yellow cards. The Italians played even more defensively. On 38 minutes, Holland were awarded a penalty; Nesta adjudged to have pulled Kluivert's shirt in the area. Stroll up F De Boer. FANTASTIC save, Francesco Toldo!! Half-time: 0-0
The Dutch got another penalty on 62 minutes; this time for a foul by Iuliano. Up steps Kluivert. Struck the bar!!!! (This was bliss!!). And so it went for the rest of the 2nd half - and for the whole of the 30 minutes extra time. Holland dominated - Italy defended with their lives. In particular, Nesta and Cannavaro had superb games. Penalty kicks!! Well, the Dutch didn't want these, after missing two already - and so it was that they were to miss three more!!! F de Boer (oh, 2nd one tonight!), Stam (MILES over the bar!) and Bosvelt. The fact that Maldini also saw his penalty saved, is neither here nor there.
After the game, Frank Rijkaard resigned. I feel a little sorry for the Dutch fans (all dressed up and nowhere to party) - really I do - but not for the players. They had all but 33 minutes playing against 10 men and they missed 2 penalties. You didn't deserve to go through, boys. And I am DELIGHTED!!!
FORZA ITALIA! BRING ON THE FRENCH!!!
 
Teams and things
ITALY (3-5-2): 12 F Toldo (Fiorentina) - 5 F Cannavaro (Parma), 13 A Nesta (Lazio), 15 M Iuliano (Juventus) - 17 G Zambrotta (Juventus), 14 L Di Biagio (Internazionale), 4 D Albertini (AC Milan; sub: 11 G Pessotto, Juventus, 77min), 18 S Fiore (Udinese; sub: 20 F Totti, AS Roma, 82), 3 P Maldini (AC Milan) - 9 F Inzaghi (Juventus; sub: 21 M Delvecchio, AS Roma, 66), 10 A Del Piero (Juventus). Substitutes not used: 1 C Abbiati (AC Milan), 22 F Antonioli (AS Roma), 2 C Ferrara (Juventus), 6 P Negro (Lazio), 7 A Di Livio (Fiorentina), 16 M Ambrosini (AC Milan), 19 V Montella (AS Roma). Booked: Zambrotta, Iuliano, Toldo, Maldini, Di Biagio. Sent off: Zambrotta.
HOLLAND (4-4-2): 1 E van der Sar (Juventus) - 15 P Bosvelt (Feyenoord), 3 J Stam (Manchester United), 4 F de Boer (Barcelona), 12 G van Bronckhorst (Rangers) - 11 M Overmars (Arsenal), 7 P Cocu (Barcelona; sub: 20 A Winter, Ajax, 94), 8 E Davids (Juventus), 5 B Zenden (Barcelona; sub: 14 P van Vossen, Feyenoord, 77) - 10 D Bergkamp (Arsenal; sub: 6 C Seedorf, Internazionale, 86), 9 P Kluivert (Barcelona). Substitutes not used: 18 E de Goey (Chelsea), 22 S Westerveld (Liverpool), 2 M Reiziger (Barcelona), 13 B Konterman (Feyenoord), 16 R de Boer (Barcelona), 17 P van Hooijdonk (Vitesse Arnhem). Booked: Zenden, Davids, Van Bronckhorst, Stam.
Referee: M Merk (Germany).
Follow the Azzurri on Forza Azzurri (English)
Match report from the UEFA Official Euro 2000 site
Italy win 3-1 on penalties
The Netherlands were eliminated from a major tournament for the fourth time in eight years on penalties as Italy advanced to a EURO 2000™ Final against France. The Dutch should have had the semi-final wrapped up long before the dramatic denouement. Frank de Boer and Patrick Kluivert missed penalties in normal time as the Dutch failed to break down an Italian team that had been reduced to 10 men after the dismissal of Gianluca Zambrotta after 34 minutes.
Italy hold their nerve
Italy scored the first three spot-kicks in the shoot-out through Luigi Di Biagio, Gianluca Pessotto and Francesco Totti, while De Boer and Jaap Stam both missed for Holland. Kluivert scored and Paolo Maldini missed to restore Dutch hopes, but man of the match Francesco Toldo then saved Paul Bosvelt's kick to confirm Italy as 3-1 winners on penalties. The victory puts Italy in the final for the first time since 1968 and ends their poor penalties record that had seen them eliminated from the 1990, 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups on spot-kicks.
Two changes by Zoff
Dino Zoff made two changes to the formula that provided victory against Romania in the quarter-finals, with Luigi Di Biagio replacing the injured Antonio Conte in midfield, and Francesco Totti dropping to the bench in place of Alessandro Del Piero. Injury also forced Zoff's Dutch counterpart, Frank Rijkaard, to make one switch, with Giovanni Van Bronckhorst replacing Artur Numan at left back. The Dutch served notice of their attacking threat as early as the third minute when a Dennis Bergkamp lob put Philip Cocu through on goal, but, as the FC Barcelona midfielder stretched to meet the ball, he could only prod it over the target as Francesco Toldo advanced from goal.
Zambrotta dismissed
Bergkamp was on the end of two clear scoring chances on the quarter-hour mark. He should have done better when he failed to connect properly with Giovanni Van Bronckhorst's left-wing cross inside the Italy area. The Arsenal FC forward then came closer still as he let fly from the right side of the penalty area only to see the ball rebound to safety off the right-hand post. Zoff's side found it difficult to get out of their own half for long periods, and the Dutch almost punished them in the 25th minute when Jaap Stam flicked on Van Bronckhorst's free-kick from the left, but the diving Cocu was unable to profit as the ball bounced wide. Italian aspirations were then dealt two significant blows during a four-minute spell as they had Gianluca Zambrotta dismissed following his second booking after 34 minutes, and then conceded a penalty when Alessandro Nesta held back Patrick Kluivert. Unfortunately for the Dutch, Toldo had not read the script, and he dived to his left to divert Frank De Boer's penalty behind for a corner.
Dutch on the offensive
The Dutch were soon back on the offensive and Kluivert crafted a wonderful opportunity for himself shortly before the break. He trapped a high ball superbly inside the penalty area, but the resulting shot across goal failed to live up to the initial control and the first half ended scoreless. Despite their numerical inferiority, Italy adopted a bolder approach at the start of the second half, and were rewarded with their first shot on goal after 48 minutes. Stefano Fiore's shot was deflected off Paul Bosvelt, and though the ball seemed to be going wide, Dutch 'keeper Edwin Van Der Sar erred on the side of caution by tipping it around the post. Two minutes later, Edgar Davids was cautioned for a foul on Demetrio Albertini, but Del Piero's shot from the ensuing free-kick was deflected over.
Second penalty wasted
The Dutch found it harder to impose their rhythm in the second half, but they could not fail to make use of the space afforded them. Another fine passing move released Davids after 62 minutes and he went down under the challenge of his Juventus team-mate Iuliano. Markus Merk again pointed to the spot, but refrained from further chastising the already cautioned defender. Kluivert this time took the kick, sending Toldo the wrong way only to see his shot come back off the post. Despite their steady pressing, a long-range strike from Van Bronckhorst on 69 minutes represented their best effort in the closing stages. Marc Overmars shot wide after 84 minutes, and substitute Clarence Seedorf also failed to find the target. Indeed, it was Italy who had the final chance of normal time, but Marco Delvecchio, on for Inzaghi, shot tamely at Van der Sar.
No golden goal forthcoming
With the golden goal rule in operation, the Dutch became more wary of Italian counter-attacks, and Stam was booked after 92 minutes for fouling substitute Francesco Totti as he tried to break. Seconds later, the Dutch were again wasteful as Kluivert shot weakly at Toldo, but Italy spurned a better chance to seal victory after 99 minutes, when Van Der Sar saved with his feet from Delvecchio. Minutes earlier Aron Winter had entered the fray as the third Dutch substitute to set a new Netherlands appearance record by winning his 84th cap. The Netherlands had the better chances in the second period of extra time. Kluivert raced on to an Overmars pass in the 108th minute but pulled his shot wide and six minutes later, Seedorf arrived late in the penalty area only to fire past the post. The deadlock could not be broken and the game drifted to the drama of penalty kicks where the co-hosts' fate was sealed.
ITALY PENS NETHERLANDS
Luigi Di Biagio - Perfectly-placed penalty, high into the top left-hand corner of the goal. No chance for Edwin Van der Sar
1 - 0
Frank de Boer - A weak left-footed penalty with no conviction, too close to Toldo’s left.
Gianluca Pessotto - Inch-perfect spot kick placed firmly into the right-hand corner of the goal. Van der Sar dived the right way but had no chance.
2 - 0
Jaap Stam - Dreadful penalty kick, blazed high over the crossbar. Taken like a true centre-back.
Franceso Totti - Audacious effort chipped straight down the middle of the goal. Memories of the Czech Republic and 1976.
3 - 1 Patrick Kluivert - Placed to the right of Toldo, who did not move from the centre of his goal.
Paolo Maldini - Firmly-placed left-footed spot kick but Van der Sar pulled off a brilliant save low to his left.
3 - 1 Paul Bosvelt - Placed low to the goalkeeper's right but without sufficient power and Toldo pulled off another impressive save.
STILL THEY BLOW!!
Ronald De Boer: "We had four, five or six open chances and didn't score. That's our fault not because they are great defenders. They played with 10 men behind the ball and that's easy to do. Who deserved to be in the final? The Dutch."
Enough! Please!!
A GREAT PIECE FROM LYNNE TRUSS, THE TIMES
Rejoice as a pair of oranges upset the applecart
AT THE end of any big sporting tournament, it's pretty easy to pick me out
of the crowd. I'm the one on all fours. "Keep up," they say, the blokes with
the stamina. "Isn't this a brilliant tournament? I'll be sad when it's
finished." To which I smile bravely and give a mute thumbs-up before trying
to summon from abysmal depths the required ounce of energy to crawl the next
few yards to the stadium, my laptop dragging in the dust behind me, secured
by string to my wrist.
So I approach the final tomorrow under a cloud of such fatigue and emotional
fragility that to call my feelings mixed is to do them no justice at all.
Me, I'm not even convinced that the final means it's time to go home.
Because when other people talk of their own home and hearth (and discuss
their Monday flights), I just burst into tears and can't think about it. I'm
not going home. Can't be. I'm going to stay in Belgium and drive across it
manically at midnight for the rest of my life, hurtling towards T-junctions,
yelling: "Which way, you bastards, which way?" No, once you buy a two-pin
toaster for your hotel room, you take an irrevocable step into another
culture, I feel. My cats will forget all about me, by and by.
Sorry if none of this is about football. I intended to write a measured
piece about those Italian heroes from Thursday night and the way defensive
play on the pitch is too glibly downgraded compared with similar heroic
displays in history - like General Gordon at Khartoum, or the Alamo, or
Rourke's Drift, all of which capture the imagination so easily. I mean,
obviously, the harassed Italians were not actually being shot at (or even
speared through the upper body, very much), and they didn't end up all dead
in a heap, so the analogy is leaky. But then I kept hearing how the Italians
will be "tired" tomorrow and it got my goat.
Tired? What right have they to be tired? Young, fit men, ferried about in a
coach everywhere? How many times in this tournament has Paolo Maldini had to
argue till he's blue in the face over a parking voucher, or shriek: "No
network coverage? Ye gods!" in a stressful context? Tired? Wait till you get
to my age, mate. Then you'll know what it's like to be tired.
Anyway, if the Italy-Holland semi-final left anybody else exhausted, I
imagine the Dutch fans should be spared a thought. All that "Hup, Holland"
stuff on Thursday must have wrung them dry, and now they've got to work like
billy-oh to sell their seats to Italians. Yes, for them the Dream Final has
been replaced by nightmare, and they have no one to blame but their
penalty-takers, who were - as I believe the young people say, m'lud - pants.
But although I bear the Dutch no ill-will, I'm glad someone upset the
applecart, because this Holland-and-France-for-the-final thing was beginning
to feel, if not rigged, then predetermined in a rigged kind of way. How I
wish I had not dubbed Pavel Srnicek "Paranoid of Sheffield" when he accused
Euro 2000 officials of favouring fashionable sides. It means I must likewise
be known as "Paranoid of Antwerp, with Toaster" from now on.
I accuse nobody, of course. But from the moment Thierry Henry's offside
equalising goal against Portugal was allowed to stand on Wednesday, I
started to smell a rodent with big incisors and a long shiny tail. The gods
had ordained a France-Holland final and by golly, that's lucky, I believe
this is a penalty. "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it infamy" was the
deathless line that kept occurring to me.
Of course, most of the decisions made by the officials at both games were
correct, and the controversial penalty award in the first has indeed been
called "brave" by many an expert. But as a neutral (especially as an
emotionally addled neutral) watching both semi-finals, I had mounting
sympathy for the underdogs, who quite plainly felt that, cumulatively, it
just wasn't fair.
So I loved the Italy-Holland game, because if there was a plan, it went
wonderfully wrong. Oh, I believe this is a penalty now, sorry, thanks for
coming, will it take you long to get home to Italy? So up steps De Boer, and
he fluffs it. Hoorah. Up steps Kluivert later, and he hits the post. Oh, the
moral delight. It was like watching someone win a fight with one arm tied
behind their back - in fact, you know the bit in Gladiator when Maximus is
obliged to start his fight fatally wounded by his insane, dewy-eyed,
cheatyboots opponent, but wins anyway? It was like that.
Blame the fatigue, if you like. Blame my sense of romance and suspicion of
authority. But for Italy to win that semi-final, and on penalties too, was
glorious. And that Di Biagio stepped up first and scored beautifully - well,
you couldn't invent it, it would look too soppy.
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