FIFA World Cup 2010 news: Italy vs. New Zealand reactions
Italy’s worst fears came true as a team returning to the competition after 28 long years held them to a 1-1 draw in a crucial group F match in the football world cup, being staged in South Africa.
The Europeans who are the reigning champions in this year’s world cup found the going tough from the outset against the New Zealand also known as the “All Whites” at the Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit. The Azzuris were on the back foot as early as the 7th minute of the match when the All Whites took the lead.
The Italians equalised through a controversial penalty in the first half, yet had to content with a draw in an otherwise drab encounter.
The game captured the imagination of millions around the world; with thousands of fans gathered in the Italian capital Rome to watch the match that ended in disappointment for soccer mad Italians.
The crowd gathered at a screening in Rome was chanting slogans in favour of Coach Marcello Lippi's team, yet the excitement soon turned sour as the All Whites scored and the world champions suffered with a lack of intensity in their moves through the rest of the match.
The All Whites ranked 78th in the world were, a team high on confidence after snatching a last minute draw in their opening match against Slovakia, and were anything but overawed against their mighty rivals.
During the match the coach of the four time champions Marcello Lippi positioned himself at the edge of the playing field and looked an increasingly worried man as his team failed to make decisive inroads.
The fans of the Italian team felt their team’s draw was due to poor performance than ill luck. "It's getting tough now, but we have not been lucky, because we kept shooting and shooting but the ball wasn't going in, what can we do?" said one disappointed fan, while another added "I expected at least 3-0, and instead we drew 1-1 and we scored on a penalty, so if this happened with New Zealand, imagine how it will go with Holland and the others..." he wondered.
The four time champions have a tough task ahead of them as they seek to avoid a first round elimination. They will now meet Slovakia in their final league game at the Ellis Park and would need to win by a big margin if they are to progress in the tournament.
Meanwhile many All Whites fans, felt that their team should have won the match 1-0, and poor referring was the reason for the penalty kick that was converted by the Italians.
"It was outstanding; we should have won that game. The referee was a bit dodgy. The penalty wasn't really a penalty; we nearly got a goal near the end. It was outstanding, Paraguay next," observed a New Zealand fan
Some of the football fans from a country known for its prowess in Rugby felt that their team’s performance was better then the expectations back home
"We thought New Zealand did really well and they really surprised us how really well they did, because they actually managed to go 1-1 with the world champions and that was just great," said a fan who had travelled to the tournament from New Zealand
The fans felt that their team deserves to reach the next round as they have been performing as well as some of the leading teams in the competition, and their presence in the second round would give a major boost to football in a country where Rugby is the number one passion.
The New Zealand would be assured a place in the second round if they succeed in toppling South Americans Paraguay, who did their own chances of qualifying no harm by scoring an impressive 2-0 win over Slovakia earlier in the day.
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