2010 World Cup: Italy v Paraguay full time report
Italy 1 Paraguay 1
Four-time World Cup winner’s Italy lived up to their pre-tournament billing as a team past their best, with an unconvincing performance against a well organised Paraguay side.
Antolin Alcaraz gave the South Americans the lead just before half time, but were pegged back by Daniele De Rossi mid-way through the second half.
The reigning world champions, despite a sterling performance in singing their national anthem, struggled in the first 45 minutes and failed to make any inroads into a stubborn Paraguayan back four.
Both teams failed to come to terms with the wet and windy conditions early on, which resulted in a predictably scrappy first quarter to the game. Italy dominated possession, but were kept at arm’s length by the Paraguayans. Excitement was at a premium, with a couple of trademark theatrical tumbles by the Italians the highlight of a pretty dour first thirty minutes.
Italy did see plenty of the ball but they were pretty toothless in attack, with their final ball on many occasions letting them down.
Their sloppiness was punished just before the break as Alcaraz stooped to head home his first international goal following an Aureliano Torres set-piece. Surprisingly the Italian defence, and more worryingly, the captain, Fabio Cannavaro were nowhere to be seen.
Italy did improve in the second period, and drew level thanks to some uncharacteristic defending from Paraguay with 60 minutes gone. Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Viveros produced his best superman impression from a Simone Pepe corner, and the ball fell to De Rossi who couldn’t miss from two yards out.
Italy did rally for the remainder of the game, with substitute Mauro Camoranesi making a huge difference in the centre of midfield. But they struggled to create any meaningful chances, with the best chance falling to Riccardo Montolivo who forced a decent save out of Viveros.
It could be said that the Italians were beaten at their own game.
Paraguay’s performance was highly centred around their defence, and spent a high percentage of the game in their own half. But despite coming under pressure in the second half, the outstanding Paraguayan back-four stood firm and the result puts them in a fabulous position to qualify from Group F.
For Italy, however, they will need to improve if they are serious about defending their crown.
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