Italy open World Cup defence with Paraguay draw

Italy open World Cup defence with Paraguay draw

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There has been a lot of talk in recent months over whether A.J. Moore Jr. Jersey Italy are capable of defending the World Cup title which they won in 2006. If tonight is anything to go by, its going to be quite a struggle.Italy struggled to a share of the points against Paraguay in a game low on creativity and invention, with both goals coming from set-pieces which owed more to defensive mistakes than attacking quality.The only player who showed any flashes of brilliance for the Italians was winger Simone Pepe, who did his best to provide impetus but didnt get much in the way of help from the dismal strike pairing of Alberto Gilardino and Vincenzo Iaquinta.Italy didnt have a single noteworthy chance in a first half where they were reasonable solid but lacking in any sense of adventure. Goals look like they are going to be hard to come by for Italy, as they rarely threatened Paraguays goal. Defensive solidity was the order of the day as they only allowed Paraguay one shot on target, although that one effort happen to be Antolin Alcarazs 39th minute goal.Aureliano Torres curled in an impre sive free-kick from Paraguays right, and Alcaraz got in front of Daniele de Ro si to head home past a stranded Gigi Buffon in the Italy goal. There was nothing Buffon could have done about the goal, but his last significant action proved to be picking the ball out of the net as he departed the game injured at half-time.Italy will hope Buffons injury is not serious, as they can ill afford to lose one of David Long Jr. Jersey the worlds top goalkeepers and arguably the sides best player, particularly as they are already without influential playmaker Andrea Pirlo.Pirlo is expected to return at some point during the group stages, and that return cannot come soon enough for the Azzurri as they looked completely devoid of ideas throughout the game.Their goal, when it came, was the product of goalkeeping incompetence rather than Italian invention. Pepes in-swinging corner flashed acro s the six-yard box, and Paraguayan keeper Justo Villar completely mi sed his punch as he lunged for the ball. It was a terrible piece of play by Villar, compounded by his defence, who seemed unaware of where the ball was as de Ro si nipped in at the far post to fire home.Its hard to decide which choice was worse; Villars charge out and mi sed punch, or the entire Paraguayan defences insistence on not even watching the ball as they preferred to block off and wrestle with the Italians trying to get on the end of the corner.Paraguay will have been particularly frustrated to concede, given that their best chance of the second half had come not long before, as Enrique Vera smashed narrowly wide from a tight angle when he really should have hit the target.After the Italian goal, there was little in the way of goalmouth action, with the most notable chance a long range effort from Italys Ricardo Montolivo which skidded off the turf just in front of Villar but was well dealt with by the goalkeeper Vince Young Jersey .This draw leaves both teams still well in contention of qualifying, with their toughest game out of the way and eminently winnable ties against Slovakia and New Zealand to come. As for Italys chances of progre sing much further than the group stage? Considerably le s certain.Man of the Match: Antolin Alcaraz. Not many standout players here; Pepe was good in fits and starts, but it comes down to one of Paraguays two centre backs. Alcaraz just shades it over Paulo da Silva due to his goal which gave Paraguay the lead.Moment of the Match: de Ro sis goal. Terrible error from the keeper, but the goal enabled de Ro si to make amends for his contribution to Paraguays opener, and could well prove key to Italys hopes of winning the group and avoiding Holland in the Second Round.
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