Match 11: Italy - Paraguay Post-Match Thread [R]

All in all, I don't think we played horribly. Nothing to get excited about. But if Gillaruseless starts in the next match I'll scream.

Slovakia may pull an upset and leave one of these teams out, but otherwise I feel they are still the favorites to advance. Neither team shone, but it's because the rival in front didn't allow them to shine.

good game, best so far i reckon

Yup. Evenly matched and very intelligent, for lack of a better word.

Perhaps not in ability, but in tactics and strategy I think UEFA and CONMEBOL teams are still far ahead of the other confederations, South Korea excluded.

Notwithstanding the fact that Italy were gifted a goal, I think Italy is quite fortunate to have drawn this game. They had very few chances while Paraguay looked much more dangerous going forward.

Lucky for them, they have the easiest group in this tournament and should still get through with ease. After that, though, I'd be surprised if they don't crash out in the round of 16.

When? We scored off a corner. And in the first half, we hardly turned the ball over. Paraguay are a solid side and it was a good game.

What??

Have you even watched the game??

Italy had control of the game and was more dangerous, made a mistake on Paraguay's goal (off a non-existant free kick) but conceded little else.

I only caught the last 25 minutes or so, immediately after Italy's goal. During that period, Italy looked a lot better, obviously. I think both teams will be fairly satisfied with the draw.

Italy has very good players at every position, but is lacking in truly great ones without Pirlo and Buffon on the field. In short the time I watched, I was most impressed by the ability of the Italian players to control the ball and make good touches and precise passes while under physical defensive pressure. I don't think they have the talent to defend their title, but barring a major individual blunder, they should be a difficult game for anyone at the tournament.

In the first half, yes, but Paraguay really stepped it up in the second half.

The second of this group is going to face the winners of group E, that is likely to be Netherlands. That explains the wish both had to score to the end, although with Santana's injury and having made all three subs, Paraguay was playing with 10 men for the last 20 minutes.

If Italia face them, we're probably out.

Paraguay scored on their only shot on goal? I think to say otherwise is disingenuous.

Italy had the better of play; their fault was in not pushing more for the win. However, I don't see how anyone could say PAR was more dangerous.

Well, it wasnt realy a "beautiful" match but this could have been due to the rain.

Paraguay showed a suprisingly good defense and a lot of heart while Italy rather dissapointed me in terms of creative tactics (given the fact that they still hold the title).

But who knows, teams get better during the tournament.

I have mixed feelings about not being able to sort out the real favourites of this tournament yet.

Anyone who is expecting great creativity from this Italy squad, prepare to be disappointed. There are very few of those players at the tournament for us. I expect a little more quality when Pirlo get s buck, but we are lacking in this department, particularly among the strikers.

Incredible fairplay by Italy.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGO1Ek0Z0Vo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGO1Ek0Z0Vo[/ame]

No, the video is not made by me.

Good defense from Paraguay should never be a surprise. And Italy are missing Totti and Pirlo from the team that won the title, so a lack of creativity shouldn't be surprising either.

It's interesting. Paraguay is a team that has a reputation as being überdefensive, relying more on the rival making mistakes while trying to attack than on building attacks themselves.

That changed this cycle, due to the lack of world class defenders and the presence of several excellent attackers. However, when facing highly tactical teams (like Brazil, Argentina or Netherlands), they have reverted to their usual hold-and-wait style. The one that earned them the nickname, in South America, of the "Petrosian of football."

Italy's changes have been more radical. Even though in the minds of some people they still are a defensive team, in reality they are a very even team that can attack, hold possession, play counters or bunker completely at will.

They can even play old-fashioned catenaccio if they need to, with a sweeper behind the defensive line --a role Cannavaro can do well.

The Paraguay-Netherlands prep game was very similar to the Italy-Netherlands one, though. Netherlands is a team that presses, opens spaces and can attack in a very systematic manner. One of the most fearsome attacking forces in the planet, together with Argentina and Spain.

So, when facing such team, both Paraguay and Italy sort of "reverted" to their old reputations, defending and conceding possession for the sake of structuring counters and setting up situations that provided for free kicks and such. Both Italy and Paraguay can be *lethal* at stopped ball options.

Anyway, the characteristic of teams with a defensive mentality, even if they become more attacking, remain: the ability to tackle cleanly (there were like three dozen tackles in this game and only two yellows!), the highly positional play (in Paraguay's case, there is always two men close by to the man tackling, so the ball won't escape --a brilliant example of that was their game vs. France in 1998), and the keeping of "zones" where each player knows the other can be found, even without looking (see the number of times an Italian player makes a pass without even looking in that direction: he knows his mate is there, running for the opening position).

it is a tiny nation with a population of 6 million. I doubt this can be compared to our multi-billion-$$$ football industries. So I wasnt comparing this with their known reputation but rather in a David vs Goliath function.

They have a good record in South America but the world cup is usually a different story. To keep Italy away from your goal isnt that easy.

Clear foul.

Like I was saying...calling them cheaters is entirely objective.

Yeah, saying that is like saying that Ivory Coast surprised you with their speed. Or Argentina with their attacking mentality.

You might not know this, but De Rossi is suffering from a calf problem. It isn't rare to pull muscles in wet weather. He wasn't asking for the ref to do anything either.

Playing with 10 behind the ball against Italy isn't an incredible feat.