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World Cup: Italy vs. Paraguay (Match Day Commentary)

ItalyCrest ParaguayCrest

By AVI CREDITOR

The defending World Cup champions kick off their title defense in a Group F showdown with South American side Paraguay at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town (2:30 p.m., ESPN/ESPN3.com).

Italy isn't the favorite to repeat as champions, but with a winable group and a veteran-laden roster, anything is possible for the Azzurri.

Paraguay isn't at full strength, with star striker Salvador Cabanas out while still continuing his miraculous recovery after being shot in the head at a Mexican bar many months ago. That hardly means that La Albirroja can't be a dangerous foe. Lucas Barrios leads a potentially potent strike force that will try to break down Italy's organized defense, and Paraguay has dedicated its World Cup run to Cabanas.

I'll be providing live commentary on the match, but please feel free to share any thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. Enjoy the match (commentary after the jump).

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POSTGAME – That's all for me, as the Group F favorites play to a 1-1 draw. Keep checking SBI for all the World Cup coverage you can handle. Thanks for following along, and have a great night!

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POSTGAME – The Buffon injury didn't factor into today's outcome, because Paraguay hardly pushed forward in the second half, but Italian fans will hold their collective breath and pray that their No. 1 keeper is good to go from here on out.

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POSTGAME – Justo Villar will take some flak for his miscue on Pepe's corner kick, and rightfully so. The Italians deserved to score considering how they controlled the run of play, but they were definitely gifted De Rossi's equalizer.

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POSTGAME – Italy was the better team over the course of the 90 minutes, and give Marcello Lippi some credit, because his substitutions helped the Italians control the second half.

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90th Minute – And that's it! Paraguay survives and earns a hard-fought-for point.

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90th Minute – Seconds remain as Italy makes one final charge.

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90th Minute – Vera overbooks his touch on a counterattack, but Chiellini bails him out with a foul. Free kick for Paraguay just inside Italy's half.

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90th Minute – I'm not looking at any stats, but possession feels like Italy 80 percent, Paraguay 20.

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90th Minute – Vuvuzelas blaring at full blast as the final minutes tick away.

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90th Minute – Three minutes of stoppage time on the way.

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89th Minute – Awful goal kick from Villar goes out to gift Italy possession. Perhaps Paraguay feels more comfortable on the defensive?

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87th Minute – Great cross from Iaquinta but nobody's there to hammer it home. Paraguay is on life support right now.

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86th Minute – Cleared away for a corner. Italy is bringing the pressure.

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86th Minute – Di Natale draws a foul in a dangerous area. Free kick from the left as Italy pushes people forward for the winner.

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84th Minute – Another late challenge from Camoranesi, and that likely should've been his second yellow.

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83rd Minute – Montolivo nearly scores out of nowhere! Dangerous shot through traffic, and Villar dives to his right and just gets a palm on it.

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82nd Minute – Cannavaro clears the corner, and Italy will move the other way.

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81st Minute – No.

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81st Minute – Vera extends to reach a Santana cross and earns a corner of Criscito. Can Paraguay score off another set piece?

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80th Minute – Great distribution from Di Natale leads to a Pepe shot from outside the box, but Villar plays the short-hop well and makes a clean save.

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78th Minute – Nope. Villar with a confident catch under pressure from Iaquinta.

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78th Minute – Di Natale wins a corner. Deja vu for Italy?

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77th Minute – No more subs for either side.

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75th Minute – Oscar Cardozo getting set to check in now, despite the ankle injury. Gerardo Martino will have two able goal scorers up top for the remainder of this match. Lucas Barrios checks out. Quiet night for Barrios, and he was marking De Rossi on the Italian goal, though the tally wasn't his fault. That's on the keeper.

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74th Minute – Italy pressing and pressing. Paraguay will have to dig deep to deny the Italians for the next 16+ minutes.

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71st Minute – Di Natale comes on for Gilardino, as Lippi seeks a winner. Neither team wants a draw, but you'd think that Paraguay would be the happier of the two teams if the current scoreline holds.

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70th Minute – Gilardino with a turn in the area, but he's smothered before firing on goal.

Yellow card for Camoranesi, stomping on Vera's foot extremely late.

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69th Minute – Roque Santa Cruz replaces Valdez. Can he put Paraguay back on top?

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68th Minute – Italy back on the offensive with some deep possession, but Paraguay doesn't break.

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66th Minute – Santana mis-hits a great chance! Barrios with a great pass from the end line to the substitute, but his shot was hooked wide.

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65th Minute – Montolivo dives in the box. Drink.

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64th Minute – Villar came off his line and completely missed Pepe's corner kick. De Rossi was being face-guarded by Barrios but still managed to slot home the all-crucial goal. 

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63rd MinuteGOAL ITALY!! DANIELE DE ROSSI TOUCHES HOME THE CORNER! 1-1

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62nd Minute – Caceres gets a yellow card for tripping up Montolivo. Fair call.

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61st Minute – One remaining sub for Italy, two for Paraguay.

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60th Minute – Jonathan Santana comes on for Torres. A wonderous free kick in a 60-minute shift for Torres tonight.

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59th Minute – Villar outjumps Pepe for a Camoranesi cross. The sub has already done more than Marchisio.

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58th Minute – Substitution for Italy, and it's Camoranesi for Marchisio. His experience alone should help Italy's collective effort.

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56th Minute – Montolivo skips a shot on goal, but Villar is all over it. That was another Robert Green special.

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55th Minute – Vera comes close! A bad clearance gave Vera a right-angled shot inside the area, but he couldn't bend Jabulani on frame.

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54th Minute – Nice effort though. A tighter cross, and Pepe's in on goal with an easy header. He was wide open.

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53rd Minute – Pepe goes for the spectacular bicycle kick off the cross from Zambrotta. Whiff.

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52nd Minute – Italy defends the corner, and Morel misses from distance off the clearance.

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52nd Minute – Slow pace and no continuity either way.

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51st Minute – Considering changing my car alarm to the vuvuzela noise. What robber would want to be within earshot of that car for more than 10 seconds?

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50th Minute – Italian dive. Drink.

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49th Minute – Ball staying in the middle third of the field. Paraguay's just fine with that.

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46th Minute – Gianluigi Buffon has been subbed off for Frederico Marchetti. Not a good sign for Italy. Has to be an injury to Buffon there. In addition to that, Lippi only has two subs to work with now to fix the offense.

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HALFTIME – Paraguay's defense is a step ahead of the Italians and shows no signs of breaking down. Is Antonio Di Natale the answer?

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HALFTIME – The scoreline would likely make the Italians press even more if they were in any other group. With games against New Zealand and Slovakia remaining, it's not exactly panic time for Marcello Lippi.

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HALFTIME – Antolin Alcaraz has the goal that the world will be talking about if this result holds. As expected, Italy controlled the run of play, but Paraguay's organized and stubborn defense hasn't allowed anything dangerous to make its way toward the goal.

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45th Minute – There's the halftime whistle. 1-0 Paraguay. Dios mio.

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45th Minute – Paraguay looks to kill off the remaining time in the first half. A dream half for Gerardo Martino's squad.

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43rd Minute – We'll see if this makes the Italians press even more. Things were going just fine, but the marking on the free kick was poor.

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42nd Minute – De Rossi and Cannavaro were beaten on Torres' free kick, and Alcaraz' timing was impeccable.

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40th Minute – Italy had been dominating, but Paraguay finished its chance. Just the way the South Americans like it.

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39th MinuteGOAL PARAGUAY!!! Alcaraz rises up and heads home the free kick!! 1-0 Paraguay! WOW

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38th Minute – Harsh foul call on Chiellini leads to a potential Paraguay chance with the free kick.

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36th Minute – A couple of more chances in the attacking third for Italy, but the final pass hasn't been there for the World Cup holders.

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35th Minute – Caceres with another long pass, but it's off the touch line. These long balls aren't going to fool or beat Italy's defense when they are that predictable.

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32nd Minute – Valdez shoots from distance, but doesn't come close. He's a Borussia Dortmund player as well.

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29th Minute – Alcaraz with a full extension to clear away an Italy corner. Paraguayan defenders exactly where they need to be at all times thus far.

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28th Minute – Criscito earns a free kick deep in the attacking third for Italy.

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27th Minute – Valdez is narrowly offside. Had an open crack on goal if not for the flag. 

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24th Minute – Pepe's bending free kick is headed away, and the return ball into the box is headed wide by Gilardino. Paraguay's defense is holding up to some early pressure.

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23rd Minute – Torres with a GREAT chance for Paraguay, but he appeared to slip while planting for the 20-yard shot and hit it well wide.

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22nd Minute – Montolivo with a steal and a breakaway, but his shot from 20 yards wasn't hit with full force. Easy save on the ground for Justo Villar. Every keeper in the world makes that save. Except Robert Green.

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21st Minute – Nice play off the short corner, earns another one for Paraguay.

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20th Minute – First real chance for Paraguay coming, as Vera earns a corner.

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19th Minute – Zambrotta's teasing cross is a bit too far for Gilardino. Not a ton of space to work with for the striker either. Paraguay's defense is keeping its shape and marking well.

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17th Minute – Non-existent night from Lucas Barrios so far. The Argentina-born striker has three goals in three games since joining La Albirroja. He's a teammate of Neven Subotic at Borussia Dortmund.

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15th Minute – Today's drinking game: Italy dives. Hope you put on your drinking hat.

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13th Minute – Paraguay has a short-lived spell of possession before kicking it deep and letting Buffon take over for Italy. Going to have to do better than that to crack this back line.

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11th Minute – De Rossi falls down and grabs his ankle seemingly without being touched. Maybe Brian McBride's playing with his voodoo doll.

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10th Minute – Iaquinta gets away with a shove and feeds Montolivo, who has another shot from the top of the area blocked.

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9th Minute – More possession for Italy, but nothing stellar in the final third just yet.

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6th Minute – Criscito with a dangerous cross toward Pepe, but give credit to Morel for getting his leg up to kick that out.

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6th Minute – Good to see that Italy ditched the sky blue kits they busted out in the Confederations Cup. This blue is the real Azzurri.

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5th Minute – Montolivo's shot is blocked, but Italy is controlling the run of play early on. No real surprise there.

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4th Minute – Zambrotta earns a corner on the right.

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3rd Minute – An early long ball from Da Silva tries to beat Italy's slower defenders over the top, but nothing doing on that chance.

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1st Minute – Montolivo already down with a bit of a knock on a tough challenge from Riveros.

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1st Minute – And the Italians' title defense is officially underway.

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PREGAME – What are your predictions for the match? I'll go with 1-0 Italy. Gilardino finds a second-half winner in a sloppy, slippery Group F opener.

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PREGAME – It's a rainy night in Cape Town, something that could definitely affect the outcome.

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PREGAME – No Oscar Cardozo or Roque Santa Cruz for Paraguay. Cardozo is still on the mend with an ankle injury, and Santa Cruz isn't in the greatest of form, having a forgettable season for Manchester City.

The biggest omission for Marcello Lippi's squad is Antonio Di Natale. Andrea Pirlo is injured and is likely to miss the first two games of Italy's title defense.

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PREGAME – Here are the starting lineups:

ITALY

———————Gilardino———————-

—Pepe———–Marchisio———-Iaquinta—

———-De Rossi————–Montolivo——–

–Criscito–Chiellini–Cannavaro–Zambrotta–

———————–Buffon———————-

PARAGUAY

————Barrios————-Valdez———–

—-Torres—–Caceres—–Riveros—–Vera—

–Morel Rodriguez–Alcaraz–Da Silva–Bonet–

———————–Villar———————–

Comments

  1. Every nation plays a different style just becasue Italy plays strong organized def and trys to counter attack off of that so what. If you win 1-0 it is worth the same as winning 4-0. Right?

    Diving you make it sound like no other player in the world dives. I agree with you on the diving when it comes to D. Rossi I hope he isn’t the next captian. The guy trips himself at the 18 yrd box when Italy was building a nice attack it seemed made no sense.

    This whole board just seems like it is anit Italy anyway.

    Reply
  2. yes because we all know how good the recent Czech sides have done in WC. Italy wins the group, and paraguay goes second.

    Reply
  3. Yes, I do hate the nation that drains all of the heart and soul of the game before scoring off a set piece… repeat till the sun dies.

    I hate that they dive like they are at the Olympics, even though most of them are 6′, and I really hate how they just got let off the hook.

    Remember the solitary goal against the US? A dive by Pirlo, assist by Pirlo. But of course, you probably view that as artistry if you root for Italy.

    Reply
  4. i think italy was solid too; they didnt play badly. but i wanted paraguay to win. i also think people need to realize how good paraguay is. the way they recovered from waves of italian attacks was in a calm, collected manner showing their confidence and skill. remember, these guys beat brazil 2-0! first to qualify in the best division in the world CONMEBOL!

    Reply
  5. funny i was at a local british pub and i thought everyone was rooting for Italy except for my Dad and me; but when Paraguay scored the place ERUPTED! then comments started flying like “ya! i want anyone to beat italy!” and a few germans next to me kept saying “i hate italy” after an italian would dive “yup that’s why i hate italy” x20

    Reply
  6. I think this group could be wide open, bar New Zealand. Slovakia is no pushover, and underestimating former Czechoslovakian sides would be a mistake by Italy and Paraguay. They tend to play compact defense and hit you with quick counters. If Slovakia gets up on either Italy or Paraguay, they could be a “tough nut to crack.”

    Reply
  7. I don’t know what game everyone including the ESPN analysts was watching, but Italy dominated. I don’t think they are going to win the World Cup this time around, but to say that they played badly just seems to be the popular thing to say. And the foul that set up the goal from Paraguay was ridiculously soft.

    Reply
  8. agreed. hopefully Santa Cruz can get in earlier and find more space to make some big plays.

    that header was awesome! over canavarro too!

    Reply
  9. Arsenal would be a marginal step up. I did say they’re not that much better, implying that they are better. But it’s not like he’s playing for Wigan or something.

    And Arsenal is definitely not going to buy Howard. He just signed a new 5 year contract. He’s at the apex of his value, and Moyes will only sell for more than Howard’s value. Arsenal doesn’t spend that kind of money.

    And it’s not like Howard has ever expressed a desire to play anywhere else, or is unhappy at Everton.

    Reply
  10. You and I know that signing a new contract doesn’t really mean much nowadays if the right price presents itself– to both club and player. However, I do agree with you that Moyes would not let Tim go that easy. If Tim has another brilliant game, his stock will just rise even higher.

    Reply
  11. It’s a shame Paraguay didn’t win. Hopefully Slovakia can beat them. How awesome would it be if Italy couldn’t get out of their group?

    Reply
  12. Did you forget the scoring clinic Arsenal put on Everton (and Timmy) on Day One of the EPL? On their best days for both teams, Arsenal would be a step up from Everton for any player. Top 4 finishes has Everton had again?

    Reply
  13. Howard just signed a new contract with Everton, and Moyes is not going to let him go for anything less than a ridiculous amount of money. And Timmy doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would complain until he got a transfer.

    Plus, Arsenal’s not that much better than Everton.

    Reply
  14. The ESPN coverage is so biased towards European teams. I understand Italy are the defending champs, but wow, only 2 minutes of talk about Paraguay and the rest was all about Italy and how “lethargic” or “old” or however they played etc…. Hmm, oh I dunno, maybe Italy didnt play that well due to Paraguays defense and how they competed? Same thing happened with the Uruguay/France match.

    Anyway, a good overall match. Italy and Paraguay should pass from this group.

    Reply
  15. Timmy is miles beyond schwarzer, just look at the age, schwarzer is knocking on retirements door, Timmy can actually get better.

    Reply
  16. I’d be surprised if they didn’t at least ask about him, considering that they’re shopping for a keeper and have been rumored to be interested in Schwarzer from Fulham. No doubt that Timmy is atleast as good, if not better…

    Reply
  17. Could just be paper talk, especially if it came from England. But on the other hand it wouldn’t surprise me. He really is world class.

    Reply

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