World Cup Countdown: Unlikely star sends Italy into the final | OneFootball

“If they were being honest, few Italian fans even knew what Grosso looked like before the tournament began,” wrote John Foot in Calcio: A History of Italian Football.

Which sounds harsh, but essentially rings true.

In the squad he may have been but Grosso was never destined to start. However, first-choice left-back Gianluca Zambrotta picked up a thigh strain in training which allowed him to step in for the opener against Ghana. The position was his from that point forward.

Taking everything into account, Grosso would have had a decent top-level career were it not for the summer of 2006. He was a professional footballer for 17 years, which in itself is some achievement. He played in two countries, winning the league in both and picked up 48 international caps along the way.

Not too many would have remembered him though, were it not for the World Cup. But football is about taking your chances and boy did he take his.

Deep into extra time, Andrea Pirlo collected the ball 18 yards from goal and opted not to shoot, but instead thread a pass through to Grosso who somehow found himself unmarked in the box. The weight of pass perfect, the finish even better.