While England collectively cries for the umpteenth time since 1966 "Charlie, I could have been a contender", the two true heavyweights of European football will collide in Dortmund night with a place in Sunday's World Cup final at stake.

Were Don King the president of FIFA he would have no need to hype up a "Rumble in the Ruhr" between two teams who have won the World Cup three times apiece.

Over the past decade Italy and Germany have seen a challenger emerge to question their status as Europe's footballing giants in France.

But while Les Bleus, at least until Sunday, remain a one-star team - like England they can wear a star on their jerseys in recognition of a solitary World Cup success while the Azzurri and the "Mannschaft" have three stars each - Tuesday's victors could end up with a fourth by Sunday. Only Brazil, with five, have a better record.

For years people have questioned whether the Italian and German football teams are in decline. Fans of England, Holland or Spain - or any other serial underachievers might be tempted to reply "Crisis? What crisis."

Barring the 1998 final between France and Brazil, either Germany or Italy has played in every final since 1978 - four years later they met each other in the decider with a Paolo Rossi-inspired Azzurri winning 3-1 in Madrid.

Italy and Germany (or the former West Germany) are often branded as at best cunning or at worst cynical by their envious fellow Europeans and are hated in Holland, envied in England and despised in Denmark.

However, basic footballing lessons like "score from your penalties", "don't stamp on your opponents in front of the referee" and "don't rely on Russian linesmen to bail you out" seem to be more receptively received in Germany and Italy than England, for instance.

In 1990, Paul Gascoigne burst into tears as he picked up the caution that would rule him out of the final if England got there - Bobby Robson's side wilted and West Germany won the shootout.

In 2002, Germany groaned as Michael Ballack picked up a yellow card in the semi-final with South Korea that would rule him out of the Yokohama final with Brazil - he picked himself up and scored the winner.

Tuesday's match will bring back memories of the 1970 meeting - dubbed the "game of the century" in Italy - when the Azzurri outlasted West Germany 4-3 in Mexico to reach the final with Brazil with Franz Beckenbauer playing much of the match with his arm in a sling.

Germany started the tournament with verve and panache but have lost a little momentum while Italy began slowly but are beginning to reach a crescendo.

Marcello Lippi's pre-tournament claim he was planning for his team to reach peak condition during the knockout rounds has proved true with the Azzurri beginning to find their form as evidenced by a 3-0 win over Ukraine in the quarter-finals. Someone will go home disappointed - and in Germany and Italy a semi-final defeat is not seen as a reason for 70,000 people to come to the airport to welcome the team home.

The winners will play France or Portugal for the right to wear a fourth star on their jersey.

Even in the event of neither Germany nor Italy winning Sunday's final, Italy's fans will be able to console themselves with a tournament that has helped them forget the match-fixing scandal while Germany has emerged with its reputation enhanced for staging a wonderful tournament.

Those are victories of a sort but it's a measure of the standards set in Germany and Italy that defeat will be seen as a barometer of failure.