Ultra-Late Penalty Ends Australia's Cup Run

The defeat was just about the cruelest imaginable for Australia this morning, as Fabio Grosso earned his side a dubious 95th minute penalty for Francesco Totti to tuck into the top left corner of Mark Schwarzer's net. There was no come from behind draw this time, with the final whistle blown directly after the winning goal. The 1-0 result puts Italy in the quarter-final against Ukraine, a team Australia would have fancied its chances against. Australia were literally seconds away from taking the match to extra-time, when their superior fitness, man advantage after the sending off of Marco Materazzi, and tactical maneuvers courtesy of Guus Hiddink might have come into play in a more striking fashion than they did in regulation time and produced a better result.

Harry Kewell did not make the lineup nor did he suit up for an appearance off the bench. It emerged later that over the past few days Kewell has been suffering from gout in his left foot, an extraordinary new addition to his plethora of awfully-timed injuries. Australia missed Kewell's incisive attacking skills as they failed time and again to create a clean break through Italy's defence.

In midfield, Australia ruled supreme for large periods of the match, especially after the direct sending off of Materrazi (another dubious decision from the referee, who otherwise performed admirably). Scott Chipperfield had yet another remarkable game, lunging in the box to stop Italian strikes on goal and roaming forward from defence in bids to counter attack switfly. Lucas Neill was the unfortunate victim of the penalty decision, the only negative against his name in the entire tournament. Let's hope history remembers his heroic displays rather than his slightly misjudged early slide to block Grosso's path to goal. With Kewell sidelined, Australia needed a big match from Marco Bresciano or Tim Cahill, but unfortunately didn't get it. Neither was able to escape the focused man marking of Italy in crucial sections of the pitch. Bresciano's quick plunge towards goal brought about the reckless Materazzi challenge that led to the Italian's red card, but no similar chances fell his way again. John Aloisi looked dangerous when he came on in the 80th minute, attempting a spectacular overhead kick that would have graced cover stories in a 100 years time had he made contact and scored. Hiddink seemed to hold back from making any further substitutions and tactical re-arrangements until extra-time, a period that never arrived thanks to the referee's eager whistle blowing.

Ultimately, this match may leave a positive legacy for the game in Australia. Perhaps it was better to play well and lose controversially to a force in world football than capitulate meakly or fail to score over the course of 120 minutes and lose on penalty kicks. The result was in many ways expected, yet the way it occured was a tragedy not to be forgotten. Painful losses have only made the Australian team tougher in the past, leaving a bitter taste our players have been desperate to wash away in the sweet joy of victory. How refreshing it was to hear 34-year-old Mark Schwarzer declare himself prepared to fight on for the next 2010 World Cup in South Africa. There has been ample talk of players, including Schwarzer, retiring after this campaign. Hopefully his determination to make up for the heart-breaking loss to Italy speaks for many of the others as well.