The failure to make the most of their potential in those tournaments has, Cannavaro said, fired his desire for success in Germany.

"We've accumulated a lot of anger after two major disappointments. First, we lost to the hosts in 2002 and that was dubious and then we lost in Portugal.

"We put that rage to good use on the pitch and you can see that at the World Cup -- we are turning that anger into something positive," he said.

Cannavaro also revealed that after the game he and his team mates had enjoyed a sing-song with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

"We sang a few songs together in the dressing room, we sang Oh Sole Mio," said Cannavaro.