New Zealand's turn to win 1-1

After a newspaper in the States declared America won 1-1 against England, surely this is a win of even greater significance. New Zealand came into the game having secured their first ever World Cup point against Slovakia with a 93rd minute equaliser. Winston Reid may have thought he'd written his name into New Zealand sport history when he rose to head home in injury time. Instead the very next game the All Whites raised themselves as a team to hold the World Champions to a 1-1 draw. There may have been a suspicion of offside for the All Whites goal, but there's a fair amount of Italian luck in the penalty awarded around the 30 minute mark. To hold out for the resulting 60 minutes and reduce Italy to shots from 20/25 yards is a remarkable achievement. special mention must be made of Ryan Nelsen who was a man mountain for NZ, and Paston made some exceptional saves after a somewhat shaky World Cup debut in game 1.

Italy on the on other hand must be slightly worried, like England, and like the implosive French the first game can be seen as a blip, an rusty start, the second game feels like the beginning of a pattern. Lippi has brought a significant number of his 2006 winners side with him, and his talisman Cannavaro got turned far too easily by Wood late on, who was unlucky not to hit a winner. The stats show Italy wiht over 70% possession and Camoranesi looked their best player when he once again came off the bench. What must be a worry forItaly is the lack of clear cut chances they provided, shots from outside the box hinted at Italy's lack of a star striker, or lack of faith in Iaquinta. Worrying times for the Azzurri team as goals seem to be at a premium. But that nothing away from the All Whites who as a team have ruined Winston Reid's solo attempt at glory with a team performance outstanding in nature.

The other game in this group, which is easy to over look after the drama and headlines of the Italy games was Paraguay taking on Slovakia. In the first game Paraguay were fierce and went hard against the Italians taking a point. Against Slovakia they looked a far more capapble team. Santa Cruz, in the starting line up this time though not quite match fit, looked composed and brought a certain amount of guile and calm to the side. He played in his teammates with some nice touches and gave them a target man up front. He held the ball up well and brought players into play. Slovakia never really got going, or looked like a team with many ideas. After conceding the injury time equaliser against New Zealand a point was a minimum requirement from this game especially with Italy their last opponents. Weiss the winger was wasteful in possession and inventiveness certainly isn't a forte, but whilst there wa only a single goal in it there's always a chance as they found out to their peril in game 1. When Paraguay scored the second late on there as no way back.

South America are certainly looking the continent of choice so far in this World Cup, thus far a South American team hasn't lost.