FAIR DINKUM. WHEN TIM CAHILL SAID Australia had rocked the world by qualifying for the round of 16, you could not help thinking that he was exaggerating and a solitary win over Japan might not even have knocked New South Wales off its axis. However, they came close to striking a mortal blow to one of the giants of the game yesterday as Italy were reduced to ten men for most of the second half and needed a suspect last-minute penalty to crawl, wilting and bleeding, into the quarterfinals.

That it should be Francesco Totti who converted the spot-kick was a subplot of its own. Even Italy’s official media guide says that they are an ordinary team when Totti-less, but Marcello Lippi, the coach, chose to play Alessandro Del Piero, a fading presence, ahead of him. Lippi said that he left Totti on the bench for so long because of tiredness, but denying him a chance to display his wares against modest opposition smacked of the conservatism that dominates Italian football.

This being a World Cup where referees are increasingly having the final say on who progresses, it was a questionable penalty. Fabio Grosso showed a typical Latin balance to stay on his feet to make inroads into the penalty area. He turned inside Lucas Neill, who slid in front of him. With the Australian’s back to him, Grosso made sure he tumbled over.

Italy had a reason of their own to feel aggrieved, as the sending-off just after half-time owed more to the Keystone Cops than Calcio’s dark arts. Marco Materazzi timed a tackle so badly that he actually missed Marco Bresciano, the Australia midfield player, and clipped Gianluca Zambrotta’s ankle. Bresciano went over the middle of the pincer movement and, with Tim Cahill chief lobbyist in the campaign for a red card, Materazzi was sent off.

It was a game that told you much about the respective psyches of the two nations and their coaches. Italy’s method is rooted in pessimism. Ask an Italian whether the glass is half-full or half-empty and he is liable to reply that it is poisoned. Ask an Australian and he will ask if it is a free bar. Italy also remember the exit to South Korea four years ago, assisted by an official and inspired by Guus Hiddink, now leaving Australia for Russia and another coach whose efforts in Germany have served to underline the folly of the FA job selection panel.

“It’s really stressful,” Gianluigi Buffon, the Italy goalkeeper, said as he gave an insight into what it is like playing behind such a negative team. “You see the play from the back and sometimes it’s a tragedy and it takes you back to (South) Korea and you think, ‘Not again’.”

Hiddink asserted rightly that his side had dominated the second half, but they lacked the tools to break down Italy. Lippi refused to deem it revenge for Italy’s loss to a Hiddink side in 2002. “I hold him in great esteem, but David and Goliath?” he said in reference to Hiddink’s pre-match billing. “He’s a very smart man.” Smart enough to frustrate Italy with a 3-3-3-1 formation and smart enough to slip through the FA net, too. The overall impression yesterday was of a tactically astute coach getting the maximum from some mediocre players. Even Harry Kewell’s appearance on crutches — he has gout in his foot — could not douse the Socceroos’ spirits, which were then improved further by Italy’s profligacy.

Alberto Gilardino was a few hours old when Paolo Rossi scored his gilt-edged hat-trick against Brazil at the 1982 World Cup and, with opponents clad in yellow shirts, he might have spied an omen. Unfortunately, the only omen from his birth was that he was again incapable of coherent movement. The profligate son was no bundle of joy as he departed at half-time.

Australia might have led when Italy failed to clear a free kick, but Scott Chipperfield drove straight at Buffon. That would have been unfair on Italy. If the World Cup is a marathon not a sprint, Italy sometimes make you think it is a round-the-world trek with their slow tempo, but only bad luck and the stylish finish of a cowboy plasterer denied them a breakthrough.

First, Gennaro Gattuso’s chipped ball was headed back by Luca Toni and Gilardino’s falling volley was tipped over by Mark Schwarzer. Soon afterwards, Toni’s well-directed header gave him a good opportunity. He charged in and put his header spinning well over.

After the sending-off, Italy reverted to type and receded further. That invited heightened Australian adventure and, sure enough, they came close to a winner when Neill fed Chipperfield, who showed neat control before making Buffon fist away his shot.

They came closer still when Cahill outjumped Simone Perrotta at a corner, but headed over. A sharp cross from John Aloisi almost fell to Mark Viduka, Italy escaped a penalty appeal when the ball struck Zambrotta’s right arm and the scent of blood wafted over Kaiserslautern. In the end, however, a nervous, scrappy win was sealed by the man Buffon called “cold-blooded”. In Italy, that is high praise.

ITALY’S LIST OF SHAME

MARCO MATERAZZI became the fifth Italy player sent off during the past four World Cups after Gianluca Pagliuca (against Norway, 1994), Gianfranco Zola (against Nigeria, 1994), Francesco Totti (against South Korea, 2002) and Daniele De Rossi (against the United States, 2006). Italy won three of the five matches, against Norway, Nigeria and Australia.

BILL EDGAR