Toldo says Dutch would never have scored

By Gideon Long
AMSTERDAM (Reuters)(DS) - Italy goalkeeper Francesco Toldo said the Dutch
could have besieged his goal for hours more in their Euro 2000 semifinal on

Thursday and would still never have scored.
"The script for this match was written before kickoff," said Toldo, who
saved
three penalties as the Italians, down to 10 men for most of the match, held
out
against the Dutch for 120 minutes before winning on spot kicks.
"They could have played for an entire day taking shots at our goal and they

would never have scored."
Toldo saved a 38th minute penalty from Frank de Boer and then watched
Patrick Kluivert crash a second spotkick against his right hand post in the
62nd
minute.
The Fiorentina goalkeeper then saved penalties from Frank de Boer (again)
and Paul Bosvelt and watched Jaap Stam blast his kick over the crossbar as
the Italians won 3-1 on spotkicks after extra time.
"Penalties are psychological things, wars between you and the attacker,"
said
Toldo, who would have been Italy's second choice goalkeeper here had
Gianluigi Buffon not fractured a bone in his hand on the eve of the
tournament.
"Psychologically you have to try to unsettle your opponent," he said.
"That's
why Stam missed."
"My first save was the best. That was the turning point."
Toldo said De Boer's penalty in the first half, awarded by German referee
Markus Merk for a tug by Italy centreback Alessandro Nesta on Kluivert,
should
never have been given.
"What penalty was there?" he asked.

WAIT UNTIL THE FINAL
Asked whether he now believed he was the best goalkeeper of the
tournament, as many observers have claimed, Toldo said: "You can't make
that
judgment until after the final".
Toldo's spectacular semifinal performance marked the high point of a career

which has owed as much to fortune and coincidence as his undeniable talent.

He won his first cap as a substitute in a qualifier for Euro 96 after
Italy's
second choice keeper at the time, Luca Bucci, was sent off against Croatia.

The Fiorentina keeper had not even been due to travel to the match in Split

but was called up at the last minute when first choice goalkeeper Angelo
Peruzzi suffered an injury.
Toldo had already packed his bags to go on holiday for the weekend when
he was drafted in to the squad.
Toldo profited a second time from Peruzzi's bad luck on the eve of the 1998

World Cup when he was called up as Italy's third choice keeper when the
Juventus player suffered another injury.
Buffon's injury gave him another opportunity to show his worth.

Taken from Daily Soccer
www.dailysoccer.com