Italy v Paraguay half time report
Italy 0 Paraguay 1
Antolin Alcaraz scored his first international goal for Paraguay to give them the lead in a cagey first half against Italy in Group F. Alcaraz stooped to head home a Aureliano Torres set-piece with 38 minutes gone, the Italian defence had gone walkabout.
It was a case of two teams cancelling each other out in the first half until Alcaraz’s opener, before the goal neither side looked threatening going forward with the two defences staying strong.
Both sides early on failed to come to terms with the wet and windy conditions, which resulted in a predictably scrappy first quarter to the game. Italy dominated possession, but were kept at arm’s length by a competitive Paraguayan back four. Excitement was at a premium, with a couple of trademark theatrical tumbles by the Italians the highlight of a pretty dour first thirty minutes.
Paraguay probably created the best chance of the first half, when Torres found space on the edge of the area but horribly skewed his shot wide of the post. With the conditions deteriorating by the minute, Torres really should have tested Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon with the aid of the wet surface.
The Italians, despite not testing Justo Wilmar Villar Viveros in the Paraguayan goal, probably just shaded the first half and could feel hard done by to be behind in the game. Their main threat came from Simone Pepe on the right wing, and the Italians will need to get him in the game more in the second period if they are serious about defending their World Cup crown.
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