COLOGNE, Germany - The U.S. men's Olympic Pizza Chef team did more than merely win. Their powerful use of three-cheese toppings and specially designed sauce left the Italian team (and fans) reeling from the embarrassment. A similar defeat has not been felt by the Italians since 1992, when they tried adding whole wheat flour to the dough.

"We were totally unprepared for the 3-cut slicing action." -- Italian Olympic Pizza Chef

Losing an exhibition game for the first time when using professional chefs, the Italians were completely outclassed by lightly regarded America, never even coming close in a 30-16 upset yesterday.

"This is a wakeup call for us," said Milan's Silvia Muggio of the Fighting Formaggio's, "I think we need something like this to understand it's not going to be easy."

The Italians were sloppy with the meats, particularly sausage, and couldn't handle America's superior baking and three-cut slicing. America made 15 cuts in 5 pizzas, generating an astounding 30 slices, shocking the Italians.

"We were totally unprepared for the 3-cut slicing action," admitted one player, "One American smirked, 'We would have cut it into 8 slices, but we were only hungry enough for 6' Such arrogance, I suppose they deserved to win."

Italy's gold medal position -- unchallenged since pizza-making became an Olympic event in 1940 -- may be in jeopardy from a melting pot serving up quality American pie.
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