"I like it, " said Patrick Vieira, the former French international whose side lost the 2006 World Cup final to Italy on penalty kicks.
Italy also had an inexperienced line-up with Gennaro Gattuso and Fabio Grosso the only survivors from the 2006 World Cup final win over France for the game played in front of only 8, 000 spectators.
Left-back Fabio Grosso, who netted the winning penalty in the 2006 World Cup final against France, scored a classy opener against the Bulgarians while his Juve team-mate Claudio Marchisio did well on the left midfield flank.
Materazzi is still best known for his antics in the 2006 World Cup final, when his comments to Zinedine Zidane led to the France playmaker being sent off for a vicious headbutt in his farewell international which ended with the Italians being crowned world champions.
Many fear Ronaldo would never play in the English Premiership again after he is believed to encourage Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo to send off Manchester United team mate Wayne Rooney in the 2006 World Cup quarter final.
"People cannot imagine the pressure, " said Domenech, who took France to the final of the last World Cup in 2006.
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Fabio Grosso and Mauro Camoranesi scored their penalties for Italy who won a shoot out to beat France in the final of the 2006 World Cup.
Since reaching the final of the 2006 World Cup, the French have won just one of their 10 tournament matches and have exhibited an alarming tendency to unravel at the first sign of difficulty.
Germany went on to reach the World Cup semifinals in 2006 and 2010 and the Euro final in 2008.
They can now focus on gaining a measure of revenge on Germany, who knocked them out of the 2006 World Cup at the quarter-final stage after a penalty shoot-out.
The Elephants, who played at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, have reached the final phase of African qualifying from which five teams will qualify for the World Cup.
The 2006 World Cup finalists are in Group A in the final round of qualifying for 2010, taking on Cameroon, Gabon and Morocco.
Scolari's last international role was with Portugal, who he led to the final of Euro 2004 and the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.
Rooney, 24, was sent off at the last World Cup in 2006, dismissed for stamping on Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho in their quarter-final tie.
In 2006, Beckham suffered an Achilles injury during England's World Cup quarter-final defeat by Portugal but recovered in time to play for Real Madrid in their first game of the Spanish season eight weeks later.
Despite having retired from international football, he agreed to return for France as they struggled to qualify for last year's World Cup before going on to reach the final of the tournament, only to lose to Italy in July 2006.
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He nearly lost his job after defeat by England in 2006 but their revival culminated in the 15-6 win over England in the World Cup final nine days ago.
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