World Cup 2006: this time it's personal
How nice to have some football on again. It's been too long. Sweltering day spent sorting out magazines for the recycling lorry. It's amazing how many have gone up the drive. I also wrote a piece for Word, having yet to be called up for script polishing by Not Going Out. There is still time.

Germany 0 Italy 2 (after extra time)
West Germany, as John Motson called them the other night (oops), and Italy were well-matched throughout the 90 minutes, which meant no goals but maximum action. Italy had more fire in them, but Germany were, as Clyde Tyldesley said, composed. David Pleat, who provided the Colemanball above about every trick in the trade, waffled about making sure his wife was taping the match, as it was "one for the purists". (I'm sure ITV would get him a copy on disc.) It really was a pleasure to watch, and wasn't as dirty as it might have been, despite the grudge element (an Italian newspaper had printed a grab of Frings, implicating him in the post-Argentina match scuffles and Fifa banned him from this one). A bit of "operatic" reaction to physical contact by the Italians, but a minimum of yellow shown, and some very wise refereeing from the Mexican, who kept the game going. When it went to extra time, everybody was mentally preparing for penalties - oh, except for the Italians, who came out fighting, perhaps secure in the knowledge that they would lose a shootout (they've only ever won once on penalties, and that was when Holland missed all five, while the Germans have only ever lost once). Within the first few minutes, Italy had two fiery shots off the woodwork. To be fair, the Germans never looked like they were cruising for penalties. The play was so action-packed there was barely time to show replays, with the ball back up the other end by force of will within seconds of any thwarted shot, and the last half-hour, despite exhaustion setting in (notably Ballack, who wasn't going to be substituted for obvious penalty-spot-related reasons), was as exciting as any we've seen this World Cup. And I'd be saying that even if Grosso hadn't scored in the 29th minute, off a beautifully judged cross from Pirlo. This little beauty, curled in, was surely the finest of the tournament. Pure poetry. Imagine if Italy hadn't scored again, a minute later! This time it was Del Piero. After an evenly-matched contest, the Italians, at this point, richly deserved their place in the final. It may have been the fear of penalties that drove them to it, but who cares? It is a shame that the German keeper Lehmann, so sure and so reliable throughout, should blot his copybook twice before the end. Both teams can be proud of providing the best 120 minutes of football of the cup so far (they both "played like men", according to Clyde, which was handy, since they were men, and not women, or kangaroos, or birds), and either would have made the final a cracker. I wanted the hosts to go through and play France, but better to see a quarter final won with this much passion within playing time. As Clyde was moved to say: magnifico.