Italy knew they could not afford to take on Germany in a penalty contest.

In FIFA World Cups, German efficiency does not permit failure from 12 metres - they have come out on top in every penalty showdown they've contested, while Italy have known only suffering: three defeats in three. So if the `Azzurri' were going to march on to Berlin on July 9, they had to do the business before the 120 minutes were up.

The clock inside the Dortmund stadium showed 119 minutes when they struck. There was barely time for Germany to respond. But just to make sure, Italy broke away and scored again. The hopes of a home nation who have contributed so much to making this a successful FIFA World Cup were reduced to dust and carried away on the night air.

The dream of a second triumph in their own tournament is no more. Instead it is Marcello Lippi's men who have the opportunity to put four FIFA World Cups in their locker. In their sixth Final, Italy will face either France or Portugal who meet in the second semi-final in Munich.

Had Germany prevailed, they would have arrived in Berlin with their energy reserves severely depleted. Jurgen Klinsmann's brave troops had toiled through extra time and penalties to see off the challenge of Argentina. Another long, exhausting shift followed before Italy cut through just as time was running out.

Their late show brought joy to a country where football means so much but which, over recent weeks, has had to look seriously at itself with an investigation into allegations of match-fixing threatening to relegate four of their biggest clubs. One of those is AC Milan who provided the Man of the Match in Andrea Pirlo. Another is Juventus, who provided the second goalscorer in Alessandro Del Piero, who applied a smart finish from Alberto Gilardino's neat pass.

While the smart money insisted that the turmoil back home would affect Italy's chances in Germany in a negative way, perhaps the opposite is true. Perhaps they have been motivated to pull out something extra. Perhaps, as Lippi has insisted all along, it's had no effect whatsoever.

It was a tough challenge for them tonight with the host nation surfing a tidal wave of euphoria. The venue threatened to be significant as well: Germany had never lost in Dortmund, 14 games played before the match against Italy, and only Wales holding out for a draw. Against that they had never beaten Italy in four attempts at FIFA World Cups.

Klinsmann chose to replace the suspended Torsten Frings with Sebastian Kehl, a Borussia Dortmund player who knows the special atmosphere of this stadium all too well. He also took the decision to stand down Bastian Schweinsteiger with Tim Borowski given the responsibility of making those left-midfield surges. Concern among the Italian supporters centred on whether their idols would stay strong with a gigantic prize so close at hand and in the face of such noise and fervour.

They needn't have worried, their creative players got on the ball from the first whistle and began posing questions. In the sides' friendly fixture in Florence in March, Italy were two ahead inside seven minutes on their way to a 4-1 victory. It was never going to be like that here although Italy again had the better of the first half.

The history of the FIFA World Cup is littered with disappointments, as any number of great teams have been left wondering what might have been.

This time around the dubious accolade goes to Carlos Alberto Parreira's Brazil. The reigning champions struggled to find their feet on German soil, eventually falling to a dominant French side in the quarter-finals. Of course, there is no disgrace in losing to Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and the like but it was the manner of the South Americans' departure that has provoked so much comment over the past few days.

In truth, that poor performance against France had been coming for a while. Even in the group games, the five-time champions were sluggish, lethargic and a long way away from the vibrant, joyful football that has become their country's hallmark. In the same Frankfurt stadium that witnessed their majestic display in last year's emphatic FIFA Confederations Cup Final win over Argentina, Parreira's men rolled over meekly against `Les Bleus', going down to a solitary Henry strike.

Portugal march on to a semi-final date with France after defeating England 3-1 on penalties following a last eight clash that ended goalless in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday, July 1.

Neither of these sides could find a way through during 120 minutes of entertaining and closely-contested action, with Portugal unable to translate into goals a numerical advantage they had held for almost an hour thanks to Wayne Rooney's 62nd-minute dismissal.

The match therefore became the second 2006 FIFA World Cup quarter-final to be settled on penalty kicks and, just as Jens Lehmann was Germany's hero yesterday, so Ricardo was Portugal's today, saving from Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher to leave Cristiano Ronaldo to stroke home the decisive kick.