DUISBURG, Germany -- Italy coach Marcello Lippi rarely singles out individual players for praise.

He made an exception for defender Fabio Cannavaro.

"Cannavaro has been unbelievable at this World Cup, I don't think there is any doubt that he's the best defender in the world," Lippi said Wednesday, a day after Italy scored two goals in the final minutes of a 2-0 extra time win over Germany in the semifinals.

Lippi said the confidence he has in his back line and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon allowed him to put four strikers on the field at the end of Tuesday's game.

"Our defense is pretty good and our goalkeeper is pretty much unbeatable," Lippi said.

Cannavaro, who will earn his 100th cap in Sunday's final against France, has played every minute of Italy's six games and stifled one scoring attempt after another. The result: Italy's defense have allowed only one goal in six games, and that was Cristian Zaccardo's own-goal in a 1-1 draw with the United States in the first round.

"Before the World Cup I told him he had a chance to get his 100th cap if we made the final. He had 93 then and he did the math and now here we are," Lippi said Wednesday.

"Now," he added, "we've got to complete the opera."

Italy is seeking its fourth title. The last time Italy made the final was 1994, when it lost to Brazil on penalty kicks. France, which beat Portugal 1-0, is trying to win its second title.

As he's done for just about every game in his long coaching career, Lippi re-watched the match when the team returned to its Duisburg training base in the early hours Wednesday.

"I'm tired. I slept two hours," Lippi said. "I re-watched the entire game, including the overtime periods. I really liked what I saw."

The corruption scandal wreaking havoc with Italian soccer back home, meanwhile, is boosting the Azzurri's team spirit, Cannavaro said.

"The polemics before we came here gave us something extra and turned into a positive with all the anger we accumulated," Cannavaro said.

Top officials accused of match-fixing defended themselves Wednesday before a sports tribunal that could result in the demotion of Italy's top clubs to lower divisions. Thirteen members of Italy's team play for the four clubs involved and face an uncertain future.

AP - Jul 4, 7:51 pm EDT
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"Yes, the confusion of the past two months has given us all the desire to respond in an appropriate way," Lippi said. "It's brought this group of guys together. We wanted to show what Italian soccer really means."

Tuesday's match was the first loss for Germany in Dortmund's noisy stadium in 15 outings. Italy, meanwhile, has still never lost to the Germans in the World Cup.

"We struggled at times, but we did more than the opponent. We had more shots, more corner kicks, more possession, hit the goal frame more times, and, fortunately, we had more goals," Lippi said.

Indeed, Italy had 10 shots on goal to Germany's two, led 12-4 in corners, Alberto Gilardino and Gianluca Zambrotta hit the post and crossbar in the first two minutes of extra time and Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero scored in the 119th and 121st minutes.

Playmaker Francesco Totti, still regaining his strength from left leg surgery, appeared spent after playing a full 120 minutes against Germany.

Lippi doesn't think his team's condition will be a problem for this final, though.

"I think we enter in good form, just the right mix physically and psychologically," Lippi said. "Fortunately, yesterday we didn't receive any (red) cards or bans."