Down at "Casa Azzurri", the Italian training camp in Duisburg, near Dusseldorf, it was a morning after of smiles, satisfaction and the occasional yawn.

The master of ceremonies, Italian coach Marcello Lippi, was the first to admit he had not slept much in the wake of Italy's pulsating 2-0 defeat of Germany in Tuesday night's semi-final: "I'm tired, I just slept two hours last night because I watched the whole game again last night, including extra-time. I went to bed at 5am and I woke up again at seven as I usually do, but I liked what I saw.

"We beat a quality team by playing quality football. It was a very important win, the most important of my career - except for next Sunday, of course."

For Lippi, as he prepares for Sunday's final, it could have been a moment to settle a few scores with the Italy bashers, those who insist Italian football is at best purely defensive and at worst totally corrupt.

Was it a matter of special satisfaction to him that he had defied all Italy's critics by ending up the game with four strikers - Alberto Gilardino, Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero and Vincenzo Iaquinta - on the field?

"No, no, it's not that I say to myself, okay, now I've shown the world that we can play with four strikers. I mean you can play with five strikers if you like but if you get beaten, what good is that? No, for me the satisfaction is that the changes I made helped us win the game, that's what matters."

Indeed, realpolitik will out. In the immediate aftermath of the game in Dortmund on Tuesday night, Lippi had told us that as he sent on Del Piero for Simone Perrotta in the 13th minute of the first half of extra-time, he had turned to his bench and told them Del Piero would score the winning goal. No sooner said than, 17 minutes later, it was done: "At a certain point in extra-time, both sides were really stretched, there was practically no midfield. Given that I reckon we've got a pretty good defence, I felt that they could look after themselves so I thought the best thing was to bring on a quality player."

Lippi paused for a moment and then added, by way of further underlining Italian realism: "Mind you, with Del Piero, I was also thinking of penalties if it went to a shoot-out."

For Lippi more than for his players, these have been weeks of helter-skelter emotions as he has fended off the impact of (unfounded) reports of his involvement in the ongoing match-fixing scandal-cum-hearing. For the first time, he yesterday admitted the scandal's impact on the side had been positive, especially during World Cup training camp back in Italy, saying it had helped "mould the team together".

Reflecting on Italy's progress to the final, Lippi revealed that he and his players, just like the rest of us, had looked closely at the draw and worked out that it had opened up "an autostrada" to the semi-final for Italy: "Looking at the draw before our final first-round game with the Czechs, it was obvious the way it was panning out and that we could get to the semis by beating first Australia and then Ukraine. We couldn't let an opportunity like that get away from us."

Inevitably, Lippi is only too aware of the enthusiasm being generated back home in Il Bel Paese by his side's achievements. Prime minister Romano Prodi was not only present at the Westfalenstadion on Tuesday night but also went down to the Italian dressingroom afterwards to congratulate the players, joining them in a rendition of Il Sole Mio.

"That's what they tell me. I didn't hear it nor did I sing because I was busy with all the Fifa interviews," said Lippi.

Lippi also claimed 29-year-old Totti is "90 per cent" likely to quit the national team after Sunday's final. "As far as I am aware he has said that it is 90 per cent that he will quit (the Italy team)," Lippi added. "However, you have to always wait to find out what is going through people's hearts and minds before commenting."

Meanwhile, things are obviously not as cheerful in the Germany camp, with the future of Juergen Klinsmann still uncertain.

Team manager Oliver Bierhoff believes putting pressure on the popular coach to stay will only make him more likely to walk away.

"Putting pressure on Klinsmann now would be exactly the wrong thing to do," Bierhoff said of his former team-mate. "I don't think anyone has doubts any more about Klinsmann but we have to leave him in peace and take a holiday. Then he'll decide."

Klinsmann, who took over in August 2004, has the overwhelming backing of the players, while the German football association is eager to get a new deal signed.