France and Italy stood level at 1-1 after the opening 45 minutes of the World Cup final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on Sunday, with a crowd of 69,000 watching an eventful and competitive first half.
France took the lead in the seventh minute after referee Horacio Elizondo awarded a penalty when Florent Malouda went down under a challenge from Italian defender Marco Materazzi inside the box. Replays suggested contact was minimal, but the call stood. French captain Zinedine Zidane converted with an audacious chip down the center that bounced off the underside of the crossbar and over the line, with Elizondo ruling the ball had crossed completely.
Italy recovered quickly, with Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo steadying the midfield. In the 19th minute, Pirlo delivered a corner from the right and Materazzi rose above Patrick Vieira to head powerfully past goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, making it 1-1.
Italy continued to press and came close to taking the lead on two further occasions. Materazzi nearly scored again from another Pirlo corner, only for Lilian Thuram to clear off the line. Minutes later, striker Luca Toni powered a header onto the crossbar after Thuram's last-ditch tackle had only temporarily halted the Italian attack.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in July 2006, in its own words.