Italy produced a clinical performance to beat an impressive ten-man Czech Republic 2-0 and reach the second round of the World Cup on Thursday, avoiding champions Brazil.
The goals, which knocked the Czechs out of the tournament, came from two substitutes. Defender Marco Materazzi headed home a Francesco Totti cross in the 26th minute and striker Filippo Inzaghi rounded Czech goalie Petr Cech after a through ball from Simone Perrotta to tap in three minutes from time.
The Czech Republic played the second half with ten men after Jan Polak received a second yellow card for a foul on Totti.
Despite being one man down, the Czechs launched constant attacks and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was superb throughout, keeping his Juventus club mate Pavel Nedved at bay.
Italy topped Group E and will therefore almost certainly avoid Brazil - still many people's favourites despite two indifferent displays - in the second round. "When it's time, we'll meet them but for now it's best to have avoided them," said coach Marcello Lippi.
Brasil beat Japan 4-1 and Croatia and Australia drew which means that Italy will meet Australia on June 26th.
As usual, Lippi declined to single out any player but said Buffon, who made four great saves from Nedved, had been "inspired by the presence of another great goalkeeper like Cech".
Buffon was "one of the top two goalies in the world," he said.
Commentators on Italian TV made Buffon their Man of the Match. The giant Juve keeper said: "It's finally my day. Nedved
kept trying to beat me like he does in training, but matches are different".
Lippi gave his team "nine out of ten for team spirit".
Materazzi came on for the injured Alessandro Nesta in the 17th minute and nine minutes later climbed high above the Czech defence to head powerfully past Cech. It was his first goal for his country.
Inzaghi, who came on for Alberto Gilardino with half an hour to go, celebrated his 50th cap with his 22nd goal for Italy and his first in a World Cup - making nail-biting Italian supporters jump for joy. The Milan striker, who had to sit out the tournament so far, thanked Lippi "for the confidence he has shown in me".
Totti, who confirmed reports that he would have retired from international football if his team had lost, said Italy was one of the favourites for World Cup victory. The Roma striker, who recovered from a broken leg just before the tournament, looked far from his best and failed twice to beat the Cech with one of his favourite shots, the so-called 'spoon' lob.
But he said: "I'm happy to have played a full 90 minutes for the first time. And I'll keep trying all the things I did before my injury. They'll only come off if I try them". The match was watched on giant screens in Turin, Milan Rome and Florence, where supporters of Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina were also anxiously awaiting news from a soccer federation prosecutor about Italy's biggest football scandal in 20 years.
After the match, horn-tooting fans fans drove through the streets waving Italy flags and forgetting the scandal. A bitterly disappointed Nedved, who came out of international retirement for the World Cup, said: "It's a difficult time for me. I don't know if I'll carry on playing, either with my country or with Juventus".
Referring to the match-fixing scandal - in which the prosecutor announced 30 indictments against clubs, officials and referees - he said: "I didn't know anything. I've always believed in good, clean soccer".
In the other Group E match, Ghana beat the United States 2-1 to set up a second-round tie against Brazil.
