World Cup 2010 Group F : Italy Paraguay New Zealand and Slovakia
We are now presenting Group F for the 2010 World Cup. Group F is composed of the following teams:Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia.
Italy: Where is the defending champion at?
Being the defending champion after winning the 2006 World Cup, a lot has happened in 4 years between the Berlin final and the beginning of the World Cup in South Africa.
The Italians finished at the top of their group but still conceded 2 draws against the Republic of Ireland. It is not a bad thing when you look back at the Irish performances during the qualifiers and only lost in extra-time to France in a home and away playoff game. But the Azzuri is an old team and young blood is not coming up. Marcello Lippi basically decided to try to win the World Cup instead of building the future by going with his veterans: Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Pirlo, Camoranesi and even Zambrotta.
After a dissapointing run at Euro 2008 and the Confederations Cup in 2009, Italy has a below average 4 years since 2006. Making it past the group stage in a weak group should be doable for the Azzurri.
Paraguay : Always complicated to play
In South America, we are used to see Brazil and Argentina as the top teams but during the qualifiers, Brazil was present on top but Argentina was not and this is due to a surprising Paraguayan
Finishing second in the South American qualifying zone, the Paraguayans are coming to South Africa with a lot of confidence.In 1998, the star of the team was the goalkeeper Jose Luiz Chilavert but now the star is up front with Roque Santa Cruz, the Manchester City striker. He will be planning to score some goals to take his team to the round of 16. He is paired up with Borussia Dortmund striker Neslon Valdez and also with Oscar Cardozo of Benfica. Paraguay has an interesting attacking front and can cause damage.
Will that be enough to be an outsider? With the level of the group, Paraguay is favourite to take one of the two spots.
New Zealand:
New Zealand is pretty much a guest, no disrespect to the Kiwis. Barely anyone can name a Kiwi player. We do not know much on the New Zealand soccer team but we do remember their showing at the Confederations Cup. It finished with heavy losses and quick eliminations.
The main objective would be to play their game and enjoy the World Cup experience to continue building soccer in New Zealand, a country where rugby is king. They are total unknows in the this competiton and no one is giving them any chance to win a game or even draw.
Slovakia
We did not expect Slovakia but they finished first of a weak group in the World Cup qualifiers. The Slovaks are happy to be in South Africa and will play the underdog forgotten card to sneak in the round of 16. They have interesting players in their squad that includes Robert Vittek (Lille), Martin Skrtel and Marek Hamsik. Hamsik is an excellent offensive midfielder with Napoli and will show his skills at the biggest stage,
They will aim for the second spot of the group and will probably fight Paraguay to get it.
Prediction
Italy should finish first of the group. In theory, Paraguay is the hardest team they will meet. The second spot will be between Paraguay and Slovakia and the South Americans have the edge with a potent attack. New Zealand will probably lose all its 3 games..
1. Italy
2. Paraguay
3. Slovakia
4. New Zealand
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