Pele gets it wrong again as determined Italian invaders ransack Germany's 'living room'

Infamous tipster, the legendary Pele, predicted Germany would win through to the final before the game began. This is the same guy who said the 2002 final would be played between France and Argentina (it was Brazil v Germany), and an African team would win the World Cup before the turn of the century - the last century that is.

So it really came as no surprise when Italy proved Pele wrong, once again, and ended the host nation's glorious run with a nail-biting victory in the dying seconds of extra time.

The Azzurri broke into 'Germany's living room' - which is how German defender Christoph Metzelder described the Dortmund Stadium - and ransacked their dreams, stealing the remarkable 2-0 victory.

It was not an easy heist, and not meant for the finesse of a cat burglar. Rather it was heavy duty stuff as both sides slugged it out before Italy broke open the safe door, 90 seconds from the game going into penalty kicks. 'Our dream is over. I didn't think at the start that we stood a chance, but having come so far, I hoped we would win. But unfortunately I was wrong,' said a tearful Rebekah Neumann, an architect from Speyer in South Germany.

She was one of nearly 250,000 German fans who had streamed into this town of 585,000 souls and the home of Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund. The train station in the heart of the city had never seen an invasion like this before.

Although the stadium could only hold 66,000 fans, most had arrived to give moral support to the Klinsi's Mannschaft and to watch the match at the Fan Fest - the giant outdoor television screens set up in downtown Dortmund.