Slovakia 3-2 Italy
The Azzuri crashed out of World Cup 2010 in extraordinary fashion after suffering a surprise 3-2 defeat to Ireland's future Euro 2012 qualifying opponents.
First of all, I have to say how shocked I was to see how poor Italy were over the last two weeks. I always felt they would come good in the end.
Now, I know they we're written off as one of the European superpowers but I still thought they could be like the German's and still do enough to get through.
God. How wrong I was!
This Italian team reminds me of someone who doesn't try hard enough at school. They have plenty of ability (which was evident in the last 10 minutes and Quagliarella's lob in injury time was one of the goals of the tournament) but they don't put in the work when its needed.
Let's face it, they should have beaten New Zealand and if they had tried that bit harder they could have beaten Paraguay. They have no one to blame but themselves and Lippi has to look long and hard at the decisions he made during the tournament.
Lets not take anything away from Slovakia, they played their hearts out today, but they look like a team that Ireland could get 6 points against when the time comes. Everyday that passes at this World Cup, the more upset i get about us not being there.
Paraguay 0-0 New Zealand
Although I didn't predict the correct score, I did feel that New Zealand had enough to leave the World Cup undefeated. Well done to the All-Whites.
It's a great achievement for a side that has so little experience, and to finish above Italy in the group is the Icing on the cake.
In conclusion, group F was one of the weakest groups in this tournament and i don't expect Paraguay or Slovakia to go much further with the likes of Denmark, Japan and Holland awaiting them in the last 16.
I'l be back later to talk about Holland v Cameroon and that crucial game between Japan and Denmark.
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