Maybe the World Cup is the easy part for Italy.

With scandal tearing apart the national sport back home, the Italians kept plowing through soccer’s premier event Tuesday night with a last-minute win just when it seemed a penalty shootout was inevitable.

Fabio Grosso twisted a left-footed shot into the far side of the net in the 119th minute, then Alessandro Del Piero clinched the 2-0 win a minute later with a counterattacking goal as the Germans pressed desperately to equalize.

The swiftness of the goals was stunning — Germany had pressured for the game’s last hour. But Italy, which has allowed only an own-goal in six games, held off the hosts and crushed their hopes for a fourth title. Now the Italians head to Berlin for Sunday’s final in search of a fourth trophy of their own. They’ll play the winner of Wednesday’s Portugal-France match.

The Azzurri also won for the third time in five World Cup meetings with Germany, with two draws.