17 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a unified Germany
hosted the 2006 World Cup
It's a tournament remembered fondly for a number of reasons not least the epic semi-final pitting the hosts against Italy
When Germany won the rights to host the World Cup,
it was seen as an opportunity to showcase a new tolerant and forward-thinking country they developed into,
that was reflected in new state-of-the-art stadiums built up and down the land and the multicultural makeup of their team
Heading into the greatest show on earth, little was expected of Jurgen Klinsmann side
Many of their key players were either coming towards the end of their careers or only just making their way into the game
They did have Michael Ballack at his peak and an enthusiastic home faithful spurring them on, but reaching the latter stages
seemed a step too far
Italy received none of the goodwill afforded to their rivals when they traveled to the tournament
The domestic game was embroiled in the Calciopoli scandal in which police authorities uncovered a corruption ring involving referees,
managers and top clubs including Milan,
Fiorentina, Lazio and Regina. The club most heavily punished : Juventus supplied five players for the squad
Germany tops Group A ahead of Ecuador and Poland with Miroslav Klose scoring four times
They disposed of Sweden with relative ease in the next round,
before beating tournament favorites Argentina on penalties in a nail-biting quarter-final
Italy under the tutelage of Marcello Lippi went through Group E despite
Daniele De Rossi's red card against the USA which earned him a four match ban.
In the last 16 they went through via a controversial
late Francesco Totti penalty against Australia and
then destroyed Ukraine in the quarters, Andrea Pirlo in imperious form throughout
That set the stage for a titanic semi-final in Dortmund Westphalenstadion pitting the host nation against the Azzurri
Early on, Italy impressed with the slickness and speed of their counter-attacks. Totti clipped a pass-through for Simone Perrotta,
but he miss-controlled at the vital moment.
Germany were more workman like and relied on the threat of Ballack, Klose and Lukas Podolski
Bastian Schweinsteiger came close on a couple of occasions before Gilardino
hit the post in the final moments. The game entered extra time and both teams threatened
Podolski forced an outstretched save from Gigi Buffon and the future Arsenal forward then missed with a header from 10 yards out
Italy began to make their extra quality count though and Pirlo was pulling the strings
He set Vincenzo Iaquinta away who in turn tied up substitute, Alessandro Del Piero
But the Juventus striker shot wide.
With the game drifting towards penalties,
Italy won a corner.
Del Piero swung one in, it was clear to the edge of the box straight to Pirlo
He danced past a couple of defenders in white and played a pass of beautiful precision into the path of Fabio Grosso
Grosso opened up his body and swept home with his left foot,
sparking wild celebrations among the Italian players and coaching staff and devastation in the home ranks
Now desperately searching for an equaliser, Germany pushed forwards in droves...
But the domineering Fabio Cannavaro won the ball back and set Gilardino away
Gilardino, then played in Del Piero who curled past Jens Lehmann and finished the game.
Italy were not to be stopped
In the Berlin final, they defeated France on penalties in a game now infamously
remembered for Zinedine Zidane's red card for head-butting Marco Materazzi
In the intervening decade,
football in the country would go through a major fallow period and the bright shoots are still hard to see
As for Germany,
despite the disappointment felt at their elimination,
there was huge pride in the country for the performance of the team and the standard of the tournament they put on.
In the years to come, an outstanding group of players would break through and eight years later,
deliver the World Cup in Brazil