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Germany-Italy football rivalry

National teams in Germany and Italy are longtime rivals, as football is the national sport in both countries and the two countries have met each other in numerous international competitions, often in the later stages of the tournaments.

There have been relatively few Italian and German players who have played at high levels in the Bundesliga and the Serie A respectively. Indeed, the fist Italian player to transfer to the German premier division was Ruggiero Rizzitelli in 1986. A notable exception is Oliver Bierhoff, who played a cumulative 12 years in Italy from 1991 to 2004. More recent examples include Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Andrea Barzagli (Wolfsburg) and Miroslav Klose (Lazio).

Italy has dominated the rivalry throughout time, with 14 wins, 7 draws (since 1923: 15 wins, 8 losses and 11 draws) against

Italy Win: 1234567891011121314 (15) Italy Lose:1234567 (8) Draw:123456789 (1011)

For many years Italy dominated (before 1982 : 17 wins, 3 losses and 6 draws), while from 1982 the French team had not lost a single game against Italy (with 5 wins and 4 draws) until the 2006 World Cup final, which Italy won on penalties. France would remain unbeaten against Italy within 90 minutes until Euro 2008, when Italy beat them 2-0 to eliminate them at the group stage. Several other games remain in the memory of football fans and have put their mark on the World Cup and of the European Football Championship. Among them, the 2006 World Cup Final, when the Italians defeated the French beat 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw, and the 2000 European Championship, won by France with an extra-time golden goal by David Trézéguet.