super all-rounder

Chapter 488 Chapter 486: Weak defending champion!

The World Cup is in full swing, Group E is over, and Group F is on the stage.

The first to debut is the defending champion Italy, their opponent is Paraguay.

In the 1950 World Cup, Italy lost 2-3 to Sweden and became the first defending champion to lose the first game. Italy also performed poorly in recent warm-up matches, including a 1-2 loss to Mexico.

两队此前交锋2次，1950年巴西世界杯意大利2比0胜出；1998年热身赛又以3比1获胜。此外在2004年奥运会小组赛上，巴拉圭1比0小胜。

Italy has remained unbeaten against South American teams in the World Cup since its 1978-3 loss to Brazil in the No.1 final in 2.

At 08:30 on the evening of the [-]th, the game started at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.

Pirlo's calf injury has not healed, but De Rossi is fine, forming a double midfielder with Montolivo.Gilardino beat Pazzini as the single arrow, Di Natale failed to start due to a minor injury, Pepe got the chance to play, and Iaquinta changed to the left.

Paraguayan striker Cardoso got rid of his ankle injury and sat on the bench with Santa Cruz. In the warm-up match, Barrios, who scored 3 consecutive games, partnered with Dortmund teammate Valdes.

The race took place in the rain, with temperatures dropping to 8 degrees Celsius.

In the opening 20 seconds, Riveros kicked the sole of Montolivo's left calf, and the Mexican referee Arjundia was indifferent.

In the 10th minute of the first half, Iaquinta intercepted the ball from the left and crossed it. Montolivo shot a long shot in the middle!
The football was blocked by the brave Paraguayan goalkeeper Villar!

In the 201st minute of the first half, Torres took a tactical corner kick from the right and made a cross. De Rossi jumped up and pushed the football out.Alcaraz made a vicious header 12 meters from the goal on the right!

The world's number one goalkeeper Buffon saved the football to the bottom line!
The deadlock was broken in the No.309 minute of the first half when Chiellini fouled Valdez behind the back and the referee awarded Uruguay a direct free kick in the frontcourt.

Torres passed a free kick with his left foot from the right to the penalty area. Cannavaro was suppressed by the opponent and did not take off enough. Alcaraz made a beautiful head shake seven meters away from the goal in front of De Rossi!

Buffon was caught off guard and could only witness the football flying into the goal from the bottom right corner of the goal!
One to zero!

Uruguay scored the goal of the defending champions!
They entered the second half with a one-goal lead.

With the score behind, Lippi the Silver Fox began to dispatch troops, and began to replace Buffon in the second half!
This was very surprising. Not long after the start of the game, Camoranesi replaced Marchisio, and Italy switched to four-four-two.

In the heavy rain, the Italians launched wave after wave of attacks.

In the 18th minute of the second half, Iaquinta passed the ball to Pepe from the left, and the ball was blocked by the defender.

De Rossi made a semi-volley shot with his left foot four meters from the goal!

The football flies into the empty goal!

The ball is in!
The Italians struggled to equalize the score!

In the end, the two teams shook hands one-on-one, and the defending champion failed to win the first game, which was surprising.

After the game, the Italian team broke a lot of negative news.

L'Equipe reported: Italy drew 1-1 with Paraguay in the first match of the World Cup. The draw in the first match is not a problem.

But the real worry was the situation with Buffon, trailing 0-1 in the first half, and Lippi made the first substitution after the half-time break, but the choice of substitution was a surprise, he replaced Marchetti for Buffon.

Buffon is currently the number one star in the Italian team, and there was no sign of injury in the first half.

After the game, the Italian reporter certainly did not let go of this question. In this regard, Lippi confirmed that Buffon was off due to injury, but what is confusing is that his answer on the sidelines was "Buffon flashed his waist"!
At the press conference, Lippi said that he suffered from "sciatic nerve pain". In fact, after Buffon was replaced, a reporter contacted Palumbo through the personnel in the venue, and the answer he got was "his back injury recurred".

One injury, but three different answers, Buffon's injury raised some questions!
There is unconfirmed news that Buffon had a big fight with Lippi in the locker room and was left in the locker room.But this kind of news does lack more factual basis.

However, the reason why such news came out is that on the one hand, Buffon showed no signs of injury in the first half, and on the other hand, the statements about Buffon's specific injury were too inconsistent.

It is inevitable to cause speculation.

However, judging from Buffon's failure to return to the bench in the second half, Buffon's injury may indeed be in his back. He should stay in the locker room for massage treatment.

Judging from the current situation, there are some doubts about Buffon's appearance in the next round, but Italy's opponent in the next round will be New Zealand, which is recognized as the weakest in the entire World Cup. The difference between the goalkeeper is Buffon or Marchetti.

The last round of the match against Slovakia will be the most critical match in Italy's group. Lippi hopes that Buffon can return to the goal of the Italian team before that match.

……

The draw between Italy and Uruguay has brought hope to New Zealand and Slovakia. As long as they can beat each other, they can take the initiative to qualify.

At 01:30 pm on the [-]th, the match between New Zealand and Slovakia will start at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg!

This is the first time the two teams have met in history.

This is Slovakia's World Cup debut!

The only time New Zealand had reached the finals was in 1982, when they lost three games in the group stage. Last year, they did not score a point in the group stage of the Confederations Cup. They only won three games in 3 matches with European teams.

Head coach Herbert announced the start one day in advance, captain Nelson returned, but vice-captain Tim Brown, who had undergone shoulder surgery, was still unable to play, and the old Oakland City captain Vecelic filled his vacancy.

After the game started, both sides appeared to be very proactive, and they both wanted to win each other.

But under the wonderful performances of the goalkeepers of both sides, the two teams could only end the first half with a score of zero to zero.

5 minutes from half time, Slovakia broke the deadlock!

After Sestak and Jr. Weiss cooperated continuously, a cross from the right passed over Reed's head, and Witek bounced the ball seven meters in front of the goal!
New Zealand goalkeeper Paston fails to touch the ball and it flies into the net!
The ball is in!
Slovakia scored their first goal in World Cup history!

At this moment, countless Slovak fans shed tears of happiness.

In the ensuing game, Slovakia chose to retreat in the face of New Zealand's ferocious attack.

Cech became the busiest person on the court. He loudly directed his teammates to make up defenses, and blocked the opponent's shots again and again.

Time flew by, and stoppage time came in a blink of an eye. The air in the stadium became extremely tense, and the Slovak fans were preparing for their first World Cup victory!

But New Zealand did not give up. In the third minute of stoppage time, they launched the final blow.

Forward Smelz protects the ball from the left and turns with his right foot to pass the ball!

Full-back Reed hit a fierce header seven meters in front of the goal!

The football hit the bottom right corner of the goal like a hammer!
The ball is in!
New Zealand equalized the score at the last moment, and the New Zealand fans at the scene were completely crazy...

The Slovakian fans stared at their net in dumbfounded, and Victory said goodbye to them like this...

With Reid's goal at the last minute, New Zealand magically drew with Slovakia.

After two games in Group F, the four teams have exactly the same points, even the same number of goals and goal difference, which is rare in the history of the World Cup.

The qualifying situation of this group is complicated and confusing, and everyone has a chance to break through.

(End of this chapter)