What I feared

GERMANY 0-2 a.e.t. ITALY. The official results of Germany's match against Italy flashed off the page. What I feared has happened. I thought Germany were complacent, preparing themselves for another PSO. A 119" by Fabio Grosso and another by Alessandro Del Piero in added time at the end of the extra period sealed the Azzurris 12-yr cycle of being in the WC final. While we might say statistics played out for Italy -- the 12-yr cycle, the never-lost-to-Germany-in-WC -- in the end, they were the better team.

Germany lost for the first time in Dortmund. A third place finish isn't at all bad.

Do you think an Azzurri-Les Bleus final is in sight? Tre colori vs Trois couleurs?

Blue has always been my second favorite color (but it is the Azzurri blue that I like better). Yellow is my favorite color (the German yellow, of course).