Italy faces France in final after penalty shootout victory

During a disappointing 120 minutes of action at the Amsterdam Arena, Frank de Boer and Patrick Kluivert both missed penalties against 10-man Italy and Dennis Berkgamp also hit the post while Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar made a great save to deny Marco Delvecchio during extra time.

De Boer had a spot kick brilliantly saved by Francesco Toldo in the 38th minute — five minutes after Gianluca Zambrotta had been ejected for his second yellow card.

Kluivert’s spot kick in the 62nd minute hit the post with Toldo beaten as the Italians somehow stayed level and the Dutch failed to reach the same level of performance they had in a 6-1 crushing of Yugoslavia in the quarterfinal.

Italy will meet World Cup holder France in Sunday’s final in Rotterdam. The French edged Portugal 2-1 thanks Zinedine Zidane’s “golden goal” penalty in extra time.

In the shoot-out Luigi Di Biagio, Gianluca Pessotto and Francesco Totti hit the target for Italy while captain Paolo Maldini missed and Kluivert was the only Dutchman to score.

Frank de Boer and Paul Bosvelt had spot kicks saved and Jaap Stam fired over the bar.

It was an unhappy ending for the Dutch who failed to break down an Italian defence after Zambrotta had been sent off in the first half.

Italian coach Dino Zoff sprang a surprise by naming Alessandro Del Piero as a starter and relegating Francesco Totti to the bench. AS Roma star Totti started three games ahead of Del Piero whose only other start had been against the Swedes when the Italians had already qualified for the quarterfinals. Totti was brought into the game late on for Stefano Fiore.

The Dutch worked an opening in the third minute when Bergkamp took a forward pass from Kluivert and swiftly fed the ball through the advancing Philip Cocu. The midfielder timed his run well to collect the ball clear of the defence but lifted his shot over the target under pressure from advancing Italian ‘keeper Toldo.

Another chance arrived in the 12th minute when Van Bronckhorst’e left wing cross found Bergkamp unmarked but the Arsenal striker’s long range header was too weak to trouble Toldo.

Three minutes later Bergkamp almost made up for it when he drifted past a defender on the edge of the area and fired a low right foot shot that thudded against the foot of the left hand post with goalkeeper Toldo beaten.