Italy, the current world champion, sealed a disappointing 1-1 draw against New Zealand in the Group F of the South African World Cup 2010, this past Sunday and risked its chances to qualify to the second round.

Italy was never characterized by an affected or elegant football, but their competitiveness, the precision in their game, the team’s conviction, and its effectiveness, both offensively and defensively, made the difference in the squad, who won the World Cup four years ago.

This Italian team, despite Lippi’s return, is not the same without Toni, Gattuso and Pirlo in the field. The Italian federation must remember that neither Maldini nor Roberto Baggio will reincarnate in time to recover their lost soul for this World Cup.

Italy was controlling the actions but imprecisely during the game. New Zealand, on the other hand, was counterattacking when they had a chance. And at minute 7, New Zealand surprised the world, when Shane Smeltz opened the scoring after a mistake by the experienced defender, Fabio Canavaro, who was unable to defend properly, giving away the first goal to New Zealand. The goalkeeper Federico Marchetti, who replaced the injured Gianluigi Buffon, was not well positioned and couldn’t detain the shot.

Italy responded with a full on attack and tied the score at minute 29, when referee Carlos Batres declared a penalty foul over Daniele de Rossi. Vincenzo Iaquinta scored the penalty by deceiving the goalkeeper for the 1-1 draw.

With this goal and with few attempts of both teams, the first half ended with a 1-1 score.

After the break Italy appeared in the field with Camoranesi and Di Natale in substitution of Pepe and Gilardino. However, despite these replacements, Italy couldn’t control the game and when they approached to Paston’s goal, they did it without originating any danger.

The only two good options came at minute 71 with a Montolivo's shot and then at minute 88’ with an accurate shot by Camoranesi. Both attempts didn’t go in, thanks to the great performance of goalkeeper Mike Paston.

New Zealand, meanwhile, defended with order and sporadically approached the rival’s area. When there were only 20 minutes left in the game, the Italian coach Marcelo Lippi put together three forwards, giving up his famous "catenaccio". The decision proved to be unsuccessful, as the score remained unchanged.

At the end, the game finished with a draw of 1-1, which is good for New Zealand but a disastrous result for Italy.

Coach Marcello Lippi stated that again his team didn’t play at its best to win the game.

“We’re just sorry we didn’t win a match we could have. If we didn’t win against New Zealand it’s our fault. Once again, the opponent scored on their first chance. We were able to control the game after that, but this was a match we should have won,” Lippi expressed.

With this result, Italy and New Zealand are tied with two points in the second place of Group F. Two points behind Paraguay, who has virtually ensured the top spot and the qualification to the second round on this group.

Italy must win their next match against Slovakia in order to qualify for the second round of the World Cup, while New Zealand has to do the same with Paraguay if they want to fight for a place in the round of 16.

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.