Italy were crowned world champions on Sunday after beating France 5-3 on a penalties to register their fourth World Cup title. The enticing match ended in a 1-1 draw after Zinedine Zidane's 7th minute penalty kick was canceled out by a Marco Materazzi in the 19th minute. Zidane could not have found a worse way to end is career as he was ejected for head-butting Materazzi in the chest with a few minutes left to play in the fourth period. In the shootout, Pirlo, Materazzi, Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Grosso all scored for Italy. Substitute David Trezeguet was the culprit in France's team as his penalty hit the woodwork to cost Les Bleus the title. Sylvain Wiltord, Eric Abidal and Willy Sagnol successfully converted their kicks. France came in with all guns blazing and were awarded an early penalty when Florent Malouda was tripped in the Italian box by Materazzi. Zidane stepped-up and chipped the ball which bounced against the underside of the bar and crossed the line to give France an early lead. Italy mounted pressure after conceding the goal and succeeded in grabbing the equalizer in the 19th minute from a well-played corner kick. Materazzi corrected his mistake by rising to an inch-perfect Andrea Pirlo and powering a header home past the helpless Fabien Barthez.
Zidane shown the red card Italy continued to bother France defense through set-pieces, as Luca Toni sent a powerful header against the post in the 36th minute after receiving another deft Pirlo corner. A rejuvenated French side took the field after the interval and mounted wave after wave of raids on the Italian goal but Gianluigi Buffon and his men stood firm. France received a huge blow when midfielder Patrick Vieira limped off the field with a thigh injury 11 minutes after the re-start In the 62nd minute, Toni almost put Italy ahead when he headed Pirlo's long-range free kick into the back of the net but his effort was ruled out for offside. In the 77th minute, set-pieces specialist Pirlo curled a brilliant free kick above the wall but it went just inches wide. The French efforts continued in extra time as coach Raymond Domenech increased his fire power by fielding Trezeguet for Frank Ribery who squandered a golden opportunity to score only seconds before being substituted. Italy had Buffon to thank for keeping them in the game when he brilliantly tipped Zidane's powerful header over the bar in the 112th minute. France had to do without Thierry Henry who also limped off the pitch before Zidane made the biggest mistake of his football career. The 34-year-old who performed sublimely throughout the game lost his cool and lashed out at Materazzi who managed to intimidate him. France had to do without their leader in the dying minutes of the game and failed to penetrate, taking the game to a shootout in which the Azzuri came on top. The win ended Italy's 24-year World Cup drought and managed to overcome the curse of penalty shootouts that haunted them in the 1990, 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
