Italy boss Marcello Lippi spoke of his pride at his side's performance in the 3-0 World Cup quarter final win over Ukraine on Friday. The result sees the Azzurri set up an exciting semi-final clash against hosts Germany on July 4th.

"I'm really happy and really proud of what the players did today, I'm especially happy for Toni," Lippi said after the match.

Toni was yet to score in the tournament before the game, despite a series of impressive performances, and led the line well for Italy throughout the match.

"It was really strange that he did not score before tonight (in these finals). Now we have to look towards the next match."

Facing Germany in front of a passionate home crowd in Berlin is a daunting prospect for any team, but Lippi is confident his side are at least as tough a challenge as the hosts.

GREAT PRAISE

"Naturally it will be difficult but it will be difficult for Germany too."

Man-of-the-match Gianluca Zambrotta was similarly delighted with his team's performance.

"We're very satisfied to reach the next round. It was a tricky match but we put in an extraordinary performance," he said.

Italy seem to be moving up gears and finding form just at the right time but Zambrotta was cautious in his assessment of the next match.

"Now we're expecting a very difficult match from Germany in the semis."

Ukraine's coach Oleg Blokhin had nothing but praise for his players in their first ever World Cup.

"There's no such thing as good or bad luck here. The Italians have a great team and they don't forgive mistakes," said the former USSR international.

"On the whole our team deserves great praise."