KAISERSLAUTERN, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Francesco Totti came off the bench to score a disputed penalty in the last minute as Italy beat Australia 1-0 to reach the World Cup quarter-finals on Monday.

    With the clock ticking down and extra-time play in sight, Fabio Grosso marauded down the left flank and worked his way into the box before falling over Lucas Neill's prone body.

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    Totti kept his nerve to convert with the last kick of the game, breaking Australian hearts in Kaiserslauten.

    Luca Toni had earlier missed Italy's best chances, before Marco Materazzi's red card for a foul on Marco Bresciano.

    The former Everton defender's dismissal, which was harsh to say the least, altered what had been an open game up until then, as both sides seemed to settle for keeping it tight.

    The Socceroos, who had escaped on numerous occasions when Italy's strikers should have done better earlier in the game, failed to make the most of their one-man advantage despite a wealth of possession.

    Australia coach Guus Hiddink was left to bemoan the harsh penalty.

    "You can have doubts about the penalty, it was questionable," he said.

    "We are very disappointed because we were so close. I think the only thing we can blame ourselves for is that we were not deadly enough in the area."

    However, keeper Mark Schwarzer admitted the Socceroos had not done enough to make the most of their advantage, saying: "We put the Italians under a lot of pressure. I'd say we were clearly the better team today.

    "The problem was we didn't score a goal and, with the extra man after the sending off we should have taken our chance."

    Skipper Mark Viduka added: "I think we dominated the match for many parts and with an extra player it made it easier for us but it's a really bad way to go out.

    "We're obviously happy we've got this far but so disappointing to go out in the fashion we did."