Euro 2000 semi final - Holland 1 Italy 3 on penalties

Italy survived with ten men in Amsterdam to beat Holland 3-1 in a penalty shoot out following a 0-0 draw after extra time.

Holland missed 5 penalties in the game including three misses in the shoot out itself and now Italy will play France on Sunday in a Rotterdam final.

Francesco Toldo saved two penalties in the shoot out and the first one of the afternoon as Italian defence shut down any ambitions Holland had of paying their normal passing game.

Frank de Boer missed two penalties in the game, Jaap Stam smashed his shoot out kick over the bar and finally Toldo saved a scuffed spot kick from John Bosvelt to send Italy into the final.

Luigi Di Biagio, substitute Pessotto and a cheeky chip from Francesco Totti - another sub - all scored for Italy while captain Paolo Maldini saw Edwin van der Sar save his penalty kick but by then Italy were close to the final.

The game itself saw Italy go down to ten men when midfielder Gianluca Zambrotta was foolishly red carded for his second bookable offence in only the 33rd minute.

Zambrotta forced the visiting team onto the defensive for almost the entire game and Italy only survived the 90 minutes they played with ten men by adopting a rigid discipline in their back line. Zambrotta twice produced ugly tackles to fell Boudewijn Zenden on the left wing and German referee Markus Menk had no choice but eject the Juventus player.

Only seconds later Holland almost took the lead.

A Marc Overmars cross into the penalty area saw Patrick Kluivert try to turn on the ball and shoot but Alessandro Nesta held him off and then pulled his shirt and Menk pointed to the spot.

Appointed penalty taker Frank de Boer hit a left foot shot which Francesco Toldo dived brilliantly to save and keep Italy in the match.

Patrick Kluivert for once got free of man marker Fabio Cannavaro in the 44th minute but sent a half volley across the face of goal.

Otherwise the Italian defence dominated Holland despite the home side claiming 70% of the possession at that sage according to computer statistics. They found it hard to create though a s coach Dino Zoff's tactics started to build belief in his Italy team that they were going to hold out no matter what.

Dennis Berkamp had come close in the 14th minute when he cut inside past Mark Iuliano on the right and crashed a shot against the far post but Holland could not penetrate the Italian defence enough to exert total pressure.

The next home chance came in the 59th minute as Iuliano felled Edgar Davids on a run into the penalty area and again Merk said penalty.

Obviously captain de Boer had now ducked out of taking penalties in the match itself so Euro 2000 top scorer Patrick Kluivert bravely took on the responsibility.

The star strike fared no better though and sent a low drive wide of Toldo but against the left post and away.

Italy by that time were playing exclusively on the break. Alessandro Del Piero had started the match in a pair with Filippo Inzaghi but neither player could hold the ball up and they lost possession very easily so any putative Italian attack was stalled very quickly allowing Holland to take control back.

Only when Inzaghi was removed and replaced with Marco Delvecchio did Italy have an outlet for long passes over the top of the Dutch defence.

Working in tandem with AS Roma leader Francesco Totti, Delvecchio was a willing runner as both sides started to see extra time and a shoot out looming.

In the 92nd minute Delvecchio carried the ball on a run and had a shot which van der Sar parried and the only attacking option for Italy was now clear. They used it again in the 99th minute for Delvecchio to again run and shoot on target in the only notable chance of the first period of extra time.

Patrick Kluivert produced great acceleration in the 107th minute despite obvious ankle problems to run down the left of the penalty area but he screwed his shot across the face of goal.

Totti scored with an extravagant looping shot from fifty metres but it was ruled out in the 118th minute for an infringement and Holland last remaining threat was a shot driven wide by substitute Clarence Seedorf.

Italy had survived with ten men to take their chances in the penalty competition and they now meet France after a masterful defensive display blunted what many felt was the strongest attack in Europe right now. Zoff produced the tactics to deliver a result and the win Italy wanted and his team now they have survived a match where everything was against them but they still won.