"Totti! He is about to take the shot. He shoulders the expectations of the whole world. "

"It's a goal! Game over! ... Italy didn't fall to Hiddink's team this time (Hiddink had led South Korea to oust Italy in the 2002 World Cup). Happy birthday to Paolo Maldini (born on July 26)! Long Live Italy!"

Italy's Francesco Totti (C) celebrates his goal against Australia with team mates Vincenzo Iaquinta (R) and Fabio Cannavaro after their second round World Cup 2006 soccer match in Kaiserslautern June 26, 2006. Italy beat Australia 1-0 to the quarterfinal.[Reuters]

Huang then turned to the Socceroos: "Go home! But they don't need to fly back to Australia which is too far away. Most of them live in Europe. Bye-bye."

Huang was unrepentant for his controversial comments in the post-game satellite linkup with the Beijing newswroom.

"I am a human being, not a machine, and I can't be impartial all the time," he said.

"Australia reminded me of a lousy team which eliminated China in the World Cup qualifiers in 1981. Australia is just like New Zealand team that beat us in 1981.

"It (Australia) is full of neutralized Australians who play and live in Britain. I don't care about the Australian team and don't want to see Australia have good results in the World Cup.

"Australia (which has joined the Asian Football Confederation) now will fight for an Asian World Cup berth and it may not be good enough to handle South Korea and Japan. But it will very likely take advantage of the Chinese team. So I don't like it."

Beijing newsroom host Zhang Bin tried several times to interrupt Huang to avoid further damage, but Huang rattled on until the linkup was severed.

Zhang then tried to make up, apple-polishing the hard-fighting Australians and guru coach Hiddink in the rest of the program.

Despite Chinese soccer remains at a low level, its soccer media is as racy as its English and German counterparts.

Chinese TV hosts' preferences can be easily heard in their comments. CCTV reporters and commentators usually favor traditional powers such as England, Italy, Argentina and Germany. In the 2002 World Cup, CCTV hostess Shen Bing stunned millions of Chinese audiences as she openly wept at Argentina's early exit.

China's sports media took off after the nation launched a professional soccer league in 1994 and began broadcasting English and Italian soccer on state television.

A newfound passion for the sport, combined with rising incomes, fuelled demand for more colorful and informative news. As the market becomes more competitive, China's fledgling soccer paparazzi can do anything for a story.