World Cup Group F preview
Group F
Italy
Paraguay
New Zealand
Slovakia
Defending your title in any sport is never an easy task. However, 2006 World Cup winners Italy could not have asked for a much kinder group to begin the defence of their crown. The Azzurri should have no problems navigating out of a group containing minnows New Zealand and Slovakia. Only Paraguay are likely to provide any real challenge towards Italy’s quest to top the group. Ever since their World Cup triumph, Italy have been criticised for constantly fielding ageing players. The disastrous reign of Roberto Donadoni was largely to blame as Italy underperformed during the qualification for Euro 2008 and at the tournament itself. Nevertheless, the reappointment of 2006 World Cup winning coach of Marcello Lippi seems to have brought back a fresh optimism amongst the national team. Several players in their early to mid twenties were given debuts in the qualification campaign and the team is starting to move in the right direction. It remains to be seen if this World Cup has arrived too soon for Italy. However, with Lippi at the helm, anything is possible.
With Italy likely to top the group, the race is on for that precious final qualification spot to the knock out stages. New Zealand are the rank outsiders of the whole tournament, let alone the group. With very few players playing in the premier European leagues, one victory would be an achievement in itself for New Zealand. It looks to be a straight fight between Paraguay and the unfancied Slovakia for second place. The Slovakians have qualified for their first ever World Cup since split from Czechoslovakia in 1993. They were fortunate to be drawn in a relatively weak qualifying group but still performed above expectations to top it. Their success has been built upon a strong squad discipline due to a lack of star names at their disposal. Paraguay also had a very impressive qualification campaign after finishing 3rd in the ten team group. The team’s success was built around a strong defence as star striker Roque Santa Cruz was injured for the majority of the matches. The country has qualified for the last three tournaments and made the last 16 in 1998 and 2002. It is likely that second place will come down to the Paraguay vs Slovakia match. Both sides are likely to keep it tight but the presence of Roque Santa Cruz, if fit, may just tip the balance in the South American’s favour.
TEAM - Italy
MANAGER – Marcello Lippi
QUALIFIED – 1st in Europe
STAR PLAYER – Gianluigi Buffon
VERDICT – Qualified
TEAM – Paraguay
MANAGER – Gerardo Martino
QUALIFIED – 3rd in South America
STAR PLAYER – Roque Santa Cruz
VERDICT – Qualified
TEAM – New Zealand
MANAGER – Ricki Herbert
QUALIFIED – 1st in Oceania
STAR PLAYER - Ryan Nelson
VERDICT - Group Stage
TEAM – Slovakia
MANAGER – Vladimir Weiss
QUALIFIED – 1st in Europe
STAR PLAYER – Martin Skrtel
VERDICT – Group Stage
