Dubai: Fans were on the edge of their seats on Tuesday night as the dry extra minutes of the game between Germany and Italy kept everyone guessing.
The occasional rattling of the crossbar made sure nobody left till it was over.
"This is a family excursion for us, though the excitement comes late at night because of the time difference," said Mikesch Zemper, from Hamburg who took his family to Jumeirah Rotana's Brauhaus to witness the heart-breaking quarterfinal face off.
Most of the Germans were aware they had never won a World Cup game against the Italians.
"History is on their side," admitted Zemper, who has live in Dubai for five years. But he added: "Tonight we will break it. We have to."
It was mostly a clean game, with only three yellow cards being flashed in the entire 120 minutes.
Britta, Zemper's wife, sitting next to their six-year-old daughter Kim, however, said: "I think the Swiss referee is biased towards the Italians because a big part of Switzerland speaks Italian."
The restaurant's chef Marius Lichtwald, shuttling between the kitchen and the dining area where plasma screens showed the game from Dortmund, shared Zemper's resolve.
"I think this game will end in a penalty shootout," he wrongly predicted.
After the first part of the extension ended in a deadlock, German-Tunisian Mohammad Hamida, a former right back for Eintracht Frankfurt, said: "Germany is the only team fully prepared for the long haul, they play a very tactical game unlike Brazilians who dance as well."
Hamida, now into football equipment business, occasionally brings German teams and coaches to the UAE, and brought his family to the Brauhaus to cheer their team.
Everything changed in the 119th minute when Grosso Fabio curled a left-footed shot, dashing the Germans' hopes
Pierrot Sarti, from Palermo, who was among the mostly pro-Italian crowd at the Fan Park, joined the rapture as Klinsmann's team seemed dazed at the surprise attack.
"Italy is in good form. I love this goal," said Sarti, who was earlier seen kicking and walking about in frustration as most attempts of his team swerved wide of the post. Meanwhile, the sound of drums and gongs at the packed Shaikh Rashid Hall gathered momentum, with fans' chants of "Italia, Italia" alternating with Queen's We Will Rock You.
Within two minutes, the Germans conceded another goal, this time by substitute Alessandro del Piero who fired a terrific shot from the right side of the penalty box past Jens Lehmann.
Then it was all over for Germany.
Marwan Mohammad, a long-haired Emarati wearing Del Piero's jersey, said: "It was unpredictable at first. Both teams played well, but the Italians played an excellent game and ended this beautiful game with 'magnifico' shots."
