I just drove through Woodbridge, and I'm a little confused.

For those of you who aren't in the Toronto area, Woodbridge is a suburb heavily populated by Canadians of Italian descent. It's one of my favorite places -- my framer's shop is there, you can't beat the morning pastries and I get some of the best pasta around at Quiztini's off Langstaff.

But immediately after the 1-0 Italian victory over Australia to advance in the World Cup, there were people running out into the streets, waving Italian flags and singing. My question is: what are you guys so happy about?

The Australians clearly played the better game, mainly because the Italians finally ran into a referee willing to call all the diving and elbowing that allows the Italians to create space. With their whining and cheapshots stripped from them, they were exposed as merely another good team, one the Aussies might have taken in extra time.

Unfortunately, the same ref who had done such a marvelous job through the first 92 minutes of action failed miserably in the last. Luis Medina called for a penalty kick on a play which shouldn't have even been a stoppage, and Francesco Totti's blast predictably snuggled into the upper left reaches of the net.

This was a horrible, unseemly ending to a wonderful game, and I'm not at all sure why Italians are pleased by it. Yes, you won -- congratulations and all that -- but your side has been exposed, and if you draw another official willing to call the game in the maaner in which it should be called, come Friday you'll be crying in your cappuccino.