The defending champions Italy had to redouble efforts to save the game and add a point in their match against Paraguay at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. Paraguay let out a victory due to a mistake of goalkeeper Justo Villar. At the end, both teams got the point with a final scoring of 1-1.

During the first half, Italy controlled the possession of the ball. However, Paraguay gave the initiative to the Italians and played a perfect counterattack. The fight was primarily in midfield, away from the rival’s area, where Paraguay waited patiently.

Paraguay made the first dangerous play to the defense led by Fabio Cannavaro twenty minutes into the game, but in an oversight Enrique Vera left the ball to Montolivo. He missed the pass when shooting with little strength. Paraguay had a clear option but Aureliano Torres hit uncomfortably and his shot went wide. The Azzurri pressured the Guarani and achieved several consecutive corner kicks.

Apparently Italy had the dominion, but could not get clear options in the rival’s area. Paraguay was developing with perfection their defensive scheme. Tactically, the game was a good one, and so it proved when the Paraguayan national team managed to score through a fixed tactical play. Aureliano Torres took a long distance shot and sent his service to Alcaraz, who won the position over Daniele De Rossi and headed the ball. The Italian goalkeeper Buffon could go for the ball and Paraguay scored its first goal.

The second half began with a surprise: the departure of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. It was speculated from the start of the game that Buffon was considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world but still was suffering from some previous injuries. Buffon was replaced by Federico Marchetti.

Since the beginning of the second half, the Italian team tried to the tie the scoring and started surprising Paraguay by pushing harder. Meanwhile, the Guarani team began to take advantage of the spaces, and at minute 54, Enrique Vera shot into the goal of Marchetti, but the ball went slightly over the goal. Italy began to give some space to the Paraguayans and made some mistakes when getting out of their area. Marcelo Lippi did not hesitate to make changes in the Italian squad. He decided to replaced Marchisio to give opportunity to Mauro Camoranesi, while Paraguay respond by changing Torres for Jonathan Santana.

Italy took a corner kick by Simone Pepe. Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar went out in wrong timing and Daniele De Rossi pushed the ball into the back of the net with a header, to put the score 1-1. Due to the tiding goal of Italy, the Paraguayan coach decided to replace Nelson Haedo Valdez for Roque Santa Cruz.

With this replacement, the scheme of the Paraguayan offense didn’t change. On the contrary, there were times when Paraguay was dedicated to contain the attacks of Italy instead of seeking victory. At the end the score remained unchanged and the match finished with a 1-1.

Lippi stated that Italy needs to improve and will do in the following games, as he wasn’t pleased with the performance against Paraguay.

"We've got to improve, and I'm sure that we will improve. But so far I haven't seen any perfect squads at this World Cup. Our condition is improving and as we get better we'll start creating more chances and scoring more goals.”

“Our self-confidence will only keep growing game by game. You've also got to consider that we were playing a team that respected us a great deal and sat back virtually the entire time,” said Lippi.

Despite the draw, Italy will continue to defend their title by facing New Zealand on Sunday, June 20th, while Paraguay will play against Slovakia on the same day in the preliminary match.

About the Author

Ally White has been a prominent writer on daily 2010 South Africa World Cup reviews, sports news and sports betting industry updates for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.