Inevitably, the matter of just how German midfielder Torsten Frings got the suspension that rules him out of tonight's semi-final clash with Italy in Dortmund raised its controversial head at Marcello Lippi's crowded pre-match press conference last night.
When asked about the Frings affair, the Italian coach got his disclaimer in first: "This came like a bolt out of the blue to us. I want to make it clear to everyone, in particular to the German media, that nobody in our camp, or in the federation, moved even a finger so that this might happen".
Did we say you did, Marcello? As Italy prepare for their match, coach Lippi was busy trying to win friends and influence his hosts. If the Italian coach was even remotely aware of the role the Italian media played in unmasking Frings's alleged fisticuffs in the skirmish at the end of last Friday's quarter-final shoot out with Argentina, he hid it well.
Back home, the daily Gazzetta Dello Sport carried a front page picture of the punch thrown by Frings at Argentinian forward Julio Cruz, while Sky Italia was busy showing slow motion replays of the incident every 38 seconds, but the Italian coach knew nothing about that: "I don't think your team motivation for a World Cup semi-final, Italy against Germany, depends on the presence of one player", he said, by way of minimising the Frings affair.
So then, maybe you are worried about the fact that Germany have never lost here in Dortmund? "Statistics like that can be overturned. Records are made to be broken and anyway, I've already won twice here (as Juventus coach against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League)."
You can go so far with the need to avoid diplomatic incidents and maintain good relations but you cannot go around selling yourself and your team short, can you? "Undoubtedly, we're getting better. No team comes here and starts at 100mph and keeps going at that speed. You have to pace yourself. We started slowly and then both our physical condition and confidence picked up."
What about your striker, Luca Toni? What made you maintain your faith in him even when he was not scoring? "Toni has got better as the tournament has gone on. Remember, apart from a couple of World Cup qualifiers, he has no international experience and he suffered at first but if you have scored 80 goals in the last three seasons in Italy, you don't all of a sudden forget how it is done, do you?"
As he has done throughout this World Cup campaign, Lippi gave yet another masterful performance last night. If playmaker Francesco Totti is even half as good tonight, then Italy are in the final. Without being asked, he had headed off accusations about an Italian "dirty tricks" operation with regard to the Frings suspension.
Finally and inevitably, the hacks threw in their best card - the ongoing match fixing scandal-cum-trial in Rome. Having got this far, went the next question, against the background of everything happening back at home, surely there is the risk that you guys feel you have done enough: "We absolutely have not done enough. Having got this far despite the scandal means nothing just like, as I said many times, the scandal would never have been an excuse if we had gone out in the first round. No, I'll tell you what I said to my players in the dressing room after we beat Ukraine. I said 'well done, lads, but this is only a point of departure not a point of arrival, our World Cup is just beginning'."
