Germany were left disappointed after two last-gasp strikes ended their bid for a fourth World Cup but they still can be proud over what they did on home soil, players and coach said. With the penalty shootout looming during the semi-final match with Italy, Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero struck in the last two minutes to give Italy a dramatic 2-0 victory over Germany. "We are incredibly disappointed," Germany striker Miroslav Klose said in Tuesday's post-match press conference. "It was an even contest and both teams had their chances. Well done to the Italians. They were clever on the break and scored two lovely goals." Germany played a solid defensive game, getting impressive performances from their back four and goalkeeper Jens Lehmann who were able to keep the Italians at bay for almost the whole game. Jurgen Klinsmann's side were close on reaching the shootout, a game of nerves that never threw them out of the World Cup and striker Lukas Podolski believes Germany were on the brink of the final. "We were just two minutes away from penalties. We created the better chances over the course of the match," he said. "In the second half, we had three absolutely clear-cut chances. I'm not making any accusations or complaints, though. That's just the way football is." Just few minutes after Podolski himself squandered a big chance with Gianluigi Buffon at his mercy, Andrea Pirlo found Grosso inside the German area with a deft through pass and the right-back curled a brilliant first-timer home. Germany flooded the Italian areas searching for an equalizer and that was what Del Piero needed to seal the victory after combining with Alberto Gilardino in a fast counter-attack.
Left-back Philippe Lahm said that the defeat was a harsh cost to pay for losing concentration for only one moment during the first goal. "I don't think that we played worse than Italy. It's a bitter pill for us to swallow," the Bayern Munich man said. "We concentrated on one thing and kept our focus right until the end, except for that one attack of theirs. We definitely want to win the Third Place match though." Coach Klinsmann echoed similar sentiments. "We're obviously very, very disappointed; it really hurts when the other side delivers a knockout punch right before the final whistle," he said. Klinsmann took over as Germany manager after their shameful exit from EURO 2004 and pumped new blood into the team, leaving a powerful, young team that can be competing for Germany over the next years. "I told the team straight after the match that they can be proud of themselves, that they've done so much and that they always pushed themselves to their limits," he said "We showed that we can compete with the best teams in the world." Top-scorer Klose, who found the net five times in the tournament so far, agreed. "We can still be proud of what we have achieved," he said.
