Marcello Lippi denied his team was lucky to beat Australia in their thrilling second round clash, instead praising his team's resilience.

The Azzurri played with ten men for nearly the entire second half after defender Marco Materazzi was sent off in the 50th minute yet secured a 1-0 victory thanks to Francesco Totti's penalty deep into injury-time.

'They (Australia) didn't even get close to a goal in the first half of the game,' Lippi said.

'In contrast we had about three or four really good attempts.'