I enjoy their game, too. As far as that Italian player's comment...I think we all agree it was plain retarded. As were all the reactions towards the Korean guy who played in the calcio at the time (sorry I forgot his name).

As for them deserving to win, I would probably agree with that too. But if you want to be honest, you have to admit they benefitted from "homefield refereeing" in that game (as well as against Spain). It's something that happens regularly, but it was particularly blatant in 2002. That's why Italians have at least a little bit of ground to stand on when they say they were robbed. Of course, you can retort they should stop whining like little bitches because it's just another part of the game you have to deal with (and they should know about it by now).

The fact remains...they've been under a black cloud for a long, long time now.