The Falling Giant

There goes italia....

First time ever in my life, Italy has been eliminated during the first round, what a history.

The last time was 36 years ago.

And this round, they accompany France, which was eliminated few days earlier.

And with this, its the first time I'd ever seen the World Champ & runner-up got eliminated in first round...history been created again....

Slovakia edge and eliminate Italy

Slovakia survived a late onslaught to beat Italy 3-2, which sent them into the Round of 16 and eliminated their illustrious opponents. A Robert Vittek double and a stoppage-time lob from substitute Kamil Kopunek (lucah tul nama mamat ni) proved enough for Vladimir Weiss’s team to advance as Group F runners-up, after late goals from Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella had ensured the tensest of finishes to a thrilling contest in Johannesburg.

The mission for the two sides at Ellis Park was simple: Italy needed a win to guarantee a place in the knockout phase, while Slovakia required victory to advance. The pressure was, therefore, on the four-time world champions, who had been finding goals hard to come by in their opening two matches, and it showed in their play. Disappointingly for the Italians, the visionary Andrea Pirlo was only fit enough to make the bench for this vital encounter, but Gennaro Gattuso and Di Natale were handed starts.

Vladimir Weiss had urged his side to be bold but rational against Marcello Lippi's men, and Slovakia were clearly enjoying the better of the play in the initial exchanges. They could certainly claim to have had the better chances. In the sixth minute, Vittek nodded a long ball into the path of Marek Hamsik, although the latter could only drag his volley wide. And the two exchanged roles six minutes later, with Hamsik squaring the ball to Vittek, but Italy goalkeeper Federico Marchetti was quickest to react.

So, perhaps, it came as no surprise when, in the 25th minute, Marchetti found himself picking the ball out of the back of the net. The pressure of the occasion clearly got to De Rossi, whose pass was easily intercepted by Erik Jendrisek just outside of the Italian box. He promptly found Vittek and the Slovakian fired into the bottom corner to give his side a deserved lead.
Marcello Lippi's men had failed to get going in their previous two matches, and they were lacking inspiration here, too. Di Natale, Daniele De Rossi and Simone Pepe all found themselves in potential scoring positions, but were unable to make them count.

Gattuso's threatening cross was headed over by Martin Skrtel as Vincenzo Iaquinta looked to profit, but there was no real punch to the Italy attack. The AC Milan veteran was, typically, terrier-like in midfield, looking to knock the Slovakians out of their stride, but it was Weiss's side that continued to look the more likely scorers - Zdenko Strba forced Marchetti to palm his 35-yard drive off target, Miroslav Stoch had a shot blocked, and Juraj Kucka watched his long-range effort flash inches wide deep into first-half stoppage time.

Lippi reshuffled his side at the break, with Christian Maggio and Quagliarella coming on in place of Gattuso and Domenico Criscito, as they searched for a crucial goal. Iaquinta almost the found the target five minutes in but his header lacked direction. The same could be said for his team as a whole, who were lacking the required creativity – which explained why the Italian fans, at last, found their voice when Pirlo was introduced to the game in the 56th minute, shortly after a woeful finish from Di Natale.

As Pirlo begin to guide proceedings from the centre of the park, Di Natale almost made up for his miss but Jan Mucha was equal to his curling shot. Italy were, at last, stepping up a gear and when Pepe's cross was beaten away by the Slovakia goalkeeper, Quagliarella could only look on in dismay as his left-footed shot was hooked off the line by Skrtel.

Slovakia, however, remained a match for Italy and minutes after Stoch's drive had fizzed a yard over, Vittek thought he had put the game out of Gli Azzurri's reach when he beat Giorgio Chiellini to Hamsik's squared ball. However, Di Natale was able to pull one back ten minutes from time, before Kopunek restored the two-goal advantage. Quagliarella's late strike set up a thrilling finish, but it was not enough for Lippi's men, who were left to contemplate a disastrous FIFA World Cup campaign.



credit: fifa.com