Italy full-back Fabio Grosso could hardly believe he played a crucial role in the Azzurri reaching the World Cup final.

The 28-year-old netted a stunning 119th-minute goal to break the deadlock in Tuesday's semi-final against hosts Germany, before Alessandro Del Piero made it 2-0 in the final minute of extra-time.

Participating in the final of the world's most prestigious tournament will cap a remarkable rise for Grosso, who was still playing for Serie C2 side Chieti as recently as 2001.

"When I saw it go in, it was such a big emotional rush - and I was glad to share it with all my team-mates," said the Palermo star.

"I can't find the words at the moment. I'm very happy, as we all are. We're in the final. It's a dream, and bit by bit it's coming true.

"We're all hoping now that we can see it right through to the end.

"It's a moment of great emotion and great joy. We wanted to get to the final and we stood firm in a stadium which was a really tough place to play in and we were facing a really great side.

"We started this campaign with a thousand difficulties and now we're having a great tournament.

"We've reached an incredible finishing line. We're a great group of players and we deserve the satisfaction we've earned ourselves here."