Game 28: Italy vs New Zealand

New Zealand shocked defending champions Italy on Sunday with a 1-1 draw.

The All Whites struck first in the 7th minute when Shane Smeltz was able to get onto the end of a long-range free kick, staying on-sides due to the flick on by Italian captain Fabio Cannavaro.

However, Italy would soon level in the 29th minute when De Rossi's shirt was tugged, and the Italian theatrically went down into the box to be awarded a penalty. Vincenzo Iaquinta would calmly even the score, and from then on out it would be a dog fight for the Aussies.

Only having three shots the entire game, one from Chris Wood narrowly missing at the end of the game, New Zealand was constantly on the defensive. Big stops from skipper Ryan Nelson were integral, but even he could not outshine the brilliant display from New Zealand keeper Mark Paston, who would come up huge on numerous occasions, denying Iaquinta, Montolivo, and others as he managed to keep his team in the game.

This is the second draw for both teams this year at the finals, New Zealand having tied the struggling Slovakians, while Italy drew 1-1 to Paraguay.

Although the much needed Andreas Pirlo is likely to return against Slovakia, something all Italians will be relishing, number one keeper Buffon could be out for the rest of the world cup due to his back injury.

In truth, Italy dominated the entire game, having 23 shots, and controlling 72% of the possession, but they just could not break down the New Zealand defense.

Italy almost tied up the match in the 27th minute, when Montolivo drilled a shot into the post, and it would remain there best chance of all their shots throughout the match.

At the final whistle, players on both sides calmly exchanged jerseys, and shook each others hands, but around the world views on the game will not be taken so lightly. Italian fans are dreading a display that France did in 2002, when after winning both the World Cup and the European Championship, the team crashed out without scoring a goal. Italy now has two goals from both their games, but they will need to win their match against Slovakia in order to progress. Normally, that would seem like an easy prediction, but with the Azzuri struggling to find the back of the net, the result could be anyone's guess.

Game 12: New Zealand vs Slovakia

Alexi Lalas, a match analysis for ESPN, said ahead of this game that New Zealand need to prove that they deserve to be at this World Cup. Allow me to disagree with him for a moment. The Oceania qualification group has rather slim pickings, and since Australia moved to the Asian confederacy, the door has been pretty much left open for the Kiwis, who after winning the vast majority of the games faced a playoff against Bahrain. Well Alexi, who would you prefer? New Zealand or Bahrain, neither are terribly impressive teams. To imply that New Zealand does not deserve to be at this tournament is a little condescending, especially after the game they had today.

New Zealand claimed they would not just play defensively, that they would come out and attack, and attack they did, amassing the same number of shots on goal as their opponents Slovakia, at two each, going practically fifty-fifty on possession, and constantly pushing. The Kiwis also put out a really good defense, that halted a lot of Slovakia's goal-scorers, albeit not completely when Robert Vittik would score a header from a routine cross in the 50th minute. After replays, it was shown that Vittik and another Slovakian player were offsides, but that is the nature of football.

After this goal Slovakia would calm down a bit, starting to connect their passing more in an effort to maintain possession while waiting for an opening. However, New Zealand would not provide one, and would keep battling hard down to the final minute, when in the last thirty seconds of stoppage time the defender Winston Reid would head the ball off of a brilliant Smeltz cross, catching all the defenders off guard.  Poor Slovakia, playing in their first ever World Cup as their own nation, just narrowly missed out on a win, but New Zealand would not give up and deserved this draw.

How about now Alexi? Good enough for you?

Final Score: New Zealand 1 - 1 Slovakia

Group F: Paraguay

Finishing third in South American qualifying, Paraguay were always one of the leaders to make it to the finals. With a strong defense, giving up only sixteen goals (second only to Brazil's 11), Paraguay showed they could take on the world.  Being only one of two teams to beat Brazil in qualification, then going on to beat Argentina, La Albirroja will be going into this years tournament with very high expectations.

However, they do have one downside, they can't seem to score enough. At the end of qualification Paraguay had only netted 24 goals, which isn't bad, but it was only one higher than eighth placed Venezuela. The problem seems to be in the midfield where they lack a strong play maker. Currently playing a 4-4-2 formation, with the two central midfielders playing in a deeper role, there is always a big gap between the players in the middle of the field. To compensate for this, coach Gerardo Martino may opt for a more offensive 4-3-3, with one of the strikers hanging further back and acting as a quasi offensive mid.

Once the midfield manages to get the ball forward, Paraguay should have no problem scoring some goals. Although left out of the squad for a lot of the qualifiers, Roque Santa Cruz [pictured] of Manchester City appears to once again be healthy, and this quick striker can run and gun with the best of them. He may have only played in five games so far this campaign, but he already has three goals! Italy should be very cautious, as the wins against Brazil and Argentina could be foreshadowing another possible upset.

My Prediction: Second Round.

Group F: Slovakia

Do not underestimate Slovakia, while the lower FIFA ranking, and the abundance of less-than-experienced players may catch your notice, the team is tough as nails.  When qualification started, everyone discounted them. Yet they managed to beat their former federal partners, the Czech Republic, breeze past Poland, and put a damper on Slovenia.

Can they repeat the feat? In Group F, "Repre" have to battle out Italy and Paraguay for a spot to move on, and those two teams will be fighting hard lest they dash the hopes of their respective nations. You can probably put Slovakia down for a win over New Zealand, as it is very likely to happen, but I wouldn't be surprised by a draw or two against the others. With Martin Skrtel [pictured] of Liverpool holding the back line, Slovakia has a realistic chance to sit on a draw and come out of it unscathed. However, that could be playing right into Italy's hands, as they prefer that type of play as well, but it could probably frustrate the South Americans.

As a result, Slovakia will need to find a way to score some goals, and that could be left up to the midfielder Pavol Hamsik, the captain and team inspiration. Realistically, to move on, Slovakia would need at the very worst to beat New Zealand, then draw to either Paraguay or Italy with enough goal differential to break a tie in their favor.

My Prediction: Group F 3rd Place.

Group F: New Zealand

Surprisingly this is not New Zealand's first World Cup, having competed in 1982. The "All Whites" (don't confuse it with the rugby All Blacks), are very happy to be making another appearance, but they did have the easiest qualifying campaign. Since Australia moved from the Oceania to Asian confederation the door was left open for New Zealand, only having to overcome teams such as Fiji. Because they won in Oceania they then had the right to play the 5th place team from Asia, which surprisingly, was Bahrain. Although not a strong team, New Zealand still had to struggle to win the playoff, only going forward with a one to zero aggregate score.

Ryan Nelson [pictured] is the captain and most experienced player. Competing for DC United in previous years, he has since moved to Blackburn Rovers in the EPL. However, his time at the English club has been blighted by injuries.

New Zealand is no doubt a serious head-scratcher, to see them qualify but other teams left out. It is simply the nature of the game, and the All Whites are here to have some fun and see if they can maybe upset a few people along the way.

My Prediction: Group F 4th Place.

Group F: Italy

Italy are the current defending champions of the World Cup, having beaten France on penalty kicks in 2006, and although many of the same players are returning, this is not the same team as four years ago.

Marcello Lippi [coach] has been adamant about holding onto to his winning players, a result that has created an aging squad. Gianluigi Buffon [pictured] may still be one of the top goalkeepers in the world, but other players such as Zambrotta and Cannavaro have lost much of their form from the past.  If Lippi takes the chance to play a lot of the younger up and coming players, then the Azzurri could go all the way, pulling off a fantastic repeat. Otherwise I could easily see the team crashing out early if they are not careful, and do not maintain their fitness levels.

The Italian team is known for playing their soccer in the same manner that their league does, slow and calculating. Playing possession until an opportunity presents itself is what the Italians do best as it has been known to frustrate others. Marching through their qualification group, a run which saw the Republic of Ireland as their toughest competition, the Azzurri are lucky to have been drawn into a rather easy World Cup group. Italy vs Paraguay will be the match to watch as both teams will be competing for the top spot going into the second round.

Key Players: Buffon has already been mentioned as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, but the Italians have another ace up their sleeve in Daniel de Rossi. The Roma defender is the epitome of a work horse and will keep fighting until the final whistle. Although I do mean fighting literally, as he has a tendency to get booked regularly. If he can stay out of the Referees pocket then the Roma man will easily hold the middle against most teams.

My Prediction: Quarter-finals.