The Hindu : Sport / Football : Grosso living up to his name in a big way

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Thursday, Jul 06, 2006

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Grosso living up to his name in a big way

DUISBURG: Fabio Grosso cemented his place on Italy's roster in an off-season tour of the United States that critics described as meaningless.

A year later, Italy is one game away from winning the World Cup and Grosso's contributions have matched his last name — which translates as ``large''.

Grosso earned the penalty that Francesco Totti converted in the final minute of the 1-0 second-round win over Australia and scored with one minute of extra time left in Tuesday's 2-0 semifinal victory over Germany.

``I couldn't have even imagined scoring a goal like that. Don't ask me how I did it. I just kicked the ball and it turned into a great goal,'' Grosso said.

Grosso took a pass from Andrea Pirlo in the box and curled his shot around Germany captain Michael Ballack and beyond the reach of leaping goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.

Grosso dedicated the goal to his wife, who is due to give birth to the couple's first son in September.

Late bloomer

At 29, Grosso is another of Italy's late bloomers like striker Luca Toni, his former teammate at Palermo. Grosso was a playmaker when he joined a Perugia team coached by Serse Cosmi in 2001.

Cosmi took one look at the 1.90-meter Grosso, saw how useful his long legs could be on the flank and made him into a left-back.

Grosso still struggles on defence occasionally, and was benched after a less than stellar performance in Italy's opening 2-0 win over Ghana. He regained his starting spot when Cristian Zaccardo scored an own-goal in Italy's second game against the United States.

Offence has never been a problem. ``This goal is worth framing, I'll never forget it,'' Grosso said. ``We all played a great game. In a stadium like that, with Germany at home, it's a historic result.''

There's no doubt it's the greatest goal of Grosso's career.

Born in Rome, he's always played for provincial clubs — Chieti, Perugia and Palermo — and has never played in the Champions League like many of his teammates.

That should change next season. Grosso was transferred to Inter Milan a few weeks ago. — AP

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