image: fifaworldcup.com

Despite all the pressure from back home (scandal this, match-fixing that etc) and a vocal German crowd, Italy are in the World Cup final thanks to Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero's superb late goals.

More importantly, this Italian team is washing away the stereotype of defensive football that made them so unpopular on the world stage for so long. Their short sharp passing in this tournament has been a joy to watch.

While previous Italian teams would have defended through extra time, Lippi's men went all guns blazing hitting the post twice through Gillardino and Zambrotta. Even holding midfielder Pirlo is creative, his job isn't to tackle but to dictate the passing game.

There's still some occasional play-acting going on. No one was convinced by Totti holding his face to make a high German foot look more incriminating (there was no contact Francesco). But on the whole this Italian team will be fondly remembered for its brand of short, passing, attacking football, and it's been a while since we've been able to say that.