Italy 1 Australia 0: It's just like your mother told you. Life isn't fair. It's just life. Australia, the welcome and colourful gatecrashers to this World Cup party, were evicted yesterday in the cruellest fashion imaginable: a penalty dispatched by Francesco Totti with the last kick of the game deep in injury time.

And more refereeing controversy rained down on the heads of Fifa. Italy had suffered a sending off which was harsh. For Australia to be eliminated on a penalty which the attacking player had so eagerly looked for was a moral travesty.

Amid a cacophony of whistles and with half the house covering their eyes, Totti's shot whistled like an assassin's bullet.

Italy stagger on, damaged and wounded, to the final eight. White-knuckle stuff, fingernail-in-the-cliff stuff.

Thus the old order survives in these competitions. For Australia the learning curve is steep and precipitously cruel. The bluebloods get the breaks.

And for Totti? Sent home from the European championships in disgrace, excoriated in the Italian media since he got here and dropped for yesterday. The final whistle brought pure redemption.

He had the guts to stand up for the penalty and the skill to bury it. Totti was a subplot who almost stole the story.

Unimaginable drama at the end. Italy, down to 10 men for most of the second half, had absorbed waves of Australian pressure and the game was lurching toward extra time when Fabio Grosso went haring down the left flank and somehow wriggled his way into the box.

Poor Lucas Neill, quite Australia's best player through the tournament, tackled clumsily. The Spanish referee pointed to the spot.

After Totti's kick there wasn't even time to restart, and the game ended with sudden drama.

"We feared Australia," said Marcello Lippi afterwards. "We had to defend well in the second half but we made our own chances. It was good organisation that we were able to play with 10 men and not suffer too badly. We are happy to still be here."

The winners of course get to write the history. Italy progress and the record books will always coldly note that fact.

Italy versus Australia. The result when the eye falls on it in years to come isn't one that will raise eyebrows. And yet . . . it's odd to think given the impact Australia have made, but arriving in Kaiserslautern yesterday they were coming home to what they were entitled to think of as their lucky ground, scene of their only ever World Cup triumph, the first-round defeat of Japan. After yesterday, Kaiserslautern will hold the same place in Aussie affections as Saipan does for the Irish.

What a shame the guillotine ending was. Here was a game for the connoisseur and casual fan alike. Pesky underdog snapping at aristocratic heels. Two thoughtful managers. One team punching above their weight. The other weighed down by domestic controversies and searing criticisms at home.

Both teams came to town toting changes. Alessandro Del Piero came into the Italian attack for Totti and lined up in a three-man assault unit along with the recalled Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino.

Perhaps more significant for Aussie plans was the insertion of the giant Marco Materazzi for the injured Alessandro Nesta in the centre of defence.

Ironically in view of what was to come, Materazzi and the implacable Fabio Cannavaro took care of Mark Viduka in sturdy fashion throughout the first half. Cannavaro man-marked assiduously, and for high balls Materazzi launched himself.

Between times Viduka took a lot of punishment. For a while Australia must have regretted their high-profile roughing up of Holland just before the tournament began. Marked out as the rough element in a rough class, Viduka was refused sympathy and frees by referees throughout.

Australia for their part had turned up in Kaiserslautern with Harry Kewell on crutches, putting paid to the view that rumours of his groin's demise had been greatly exaggerated. In his place Tim Cahill started up front in Viduka's shadow.

Despite the fact the Italians had the better chances of the first half, the Australians played with the confidence of men who believed they had the right to share the same pitch. That self-belief has been a charming and vital part of their progress here, and in the second half as the game wore on it looked as if it would be their best weapon.

In the 50th minute Viduka got some relief and Australia got a parcel of hope. Marco Bresciano skipped through on a rare foray into the Italian box. Materazzi was so affronted at the trespass he lunged heftily at the interloper, almost breaking Bresciano in two. Straight red (but a harsh one, given there were defenders behind Materazzi) and another Italian game distinguished by somebody's need for an early bath.

Lippi swapped a forward (Toni) for a defender straight away, but even as Materazzi was being shown the card Guus Hiddink was on his feet summoning Aussie players to the bench for consultations.

Duly the current of the game began to change. Australia had space and belief. Scott Chipperfield hammered a shot at Gianluigi Buffon. Cahill almost got his head to a fine Bresciano cross. Italy massed the ranks back in their area. Australia stood back and probed for a way through.

It was an odd, tense period of the match. The Italians absorb pressure as part of their metabolism. The Australians skipped around, innocently enjoying themselves, and one wondered if they weren't going to be made carrion on a counterattack.

It wasn't as if Mark Schwarzer had time for a crossword. One cross just eluded the head of the prowling Del Piero. A few minutes later Andrea Pirlo demanded a good save from a 30-yard free.

Time ticked on. Lippi seemed to sense normal time represented his side's best chance, and in the 74th minute he played his final card, putting Totti on for Del Piero. Hiddink threw John Aloisi in but held off on other subs.

It seemed to be winding down in a welter of Aussie pressure, a mood which would set the pattern for extra time. So we thought.

"It was the worst possible way to go out," said Hiddink. "Overall we are just proud of our players They did Australia proud through four matches. Sadly, we couldn't score.

"If you analyse the game, we tried to play attractive football, but in the end you must make goals from that attractive football. That's the lesson."

Harsh lessons. Football, like life, isn't fair.

SUBSTITUTIONS

ITALY: Totti for Del Piero (75 mins), Iaquinta for Gilardino (45 mins), Barzagli for Toni (55 mins). Subs not used: Zaccardo, Peruzzi, Amelia, Camoranesi, Barone, Inzaghi, Oddo, Nesta. Booked: Grosso, Gattuso, Zambrotta.

AUSTRALIA: Aloisi for Sterjovski (81 mins). Subs not used: Popovic, Skoko, Kalac, Kennedy, Lazaridis, Covic, Beauchamp, Kewell, Thompson, Milligan. Booked: Grella, Cahill, Wilkshire.

Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain).