Germany 2006: Italians, World Champs!... of corruption?

As it was totally predictable, the Italian national team won today the Soccer World Cup 2006 that took place in Germany.

And I say that it was totally predictable, as since their very early games in the Cup, it was obvious that Italians were benefited from some mysterious decisions taken by the referees. As clear examples, we can remember the game Italy vs. Australia, where the Italians won because of an inexistent penalty called in the last minute of the match; or maybe we can think of the game Italy vs. Germany, where the Germans were clearly doing their best to miss every scoring chance they had, until the second extra period, when Fabio Grosso, an Italian defenseman, luckily sent the ball inside the net with a fortuitous crossed shot which he himself didn't believe that entered. The second goal scored right after such action by Alessandro Del Piero was only an extra ornamentation of the game, where the German defensemen forgot to lay the red carpet for Del Piero for his way to the goal.

Now, in the final game, the French national team did a nice job simulating to do an effort to really win the game. They drove the match until shootouts, where the French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez guessed perfectly what direction would every Italian shoot take, to throw himself exactly to the opposite side of the ball's route. Also, David Trezeguet, a French player, took his opportunity to miss a penalty kick when he clearly had the intention of throwing the ball just above the goal. Fortunately for him, the ball hit the post and it looked more shocking (and real) than he initially planned.

Unfortunately, it's not surprising to find out that Italians arrange matches and cups for their own benefit, let's not forget about the Juventus case that is being discussed these days inside the Italian Football Federation, where teams such as Juventus, Milan and Fiorentina are probably to be found guilty of arranging games with referees and teams to win championships. Because of this scandal, we could see those teams playing in the Italian Serie B (minor league) as punishment.

Congratulations to the Italian National team and its managers for winning this World Cup, you're mastering the arts of arranging soccer games very well.