<em><strong>Defending Cha</strong></em><em><strong>mpions Italy followed the footsteps of runners-up France to bow out of World Cup'10. Slovakia, in their maiden tournament, battled against all odds to come out triumphant and secured a berth in the knockout stages.</strong></em> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/football-slovakia-italy/image/9203147?term=Italy+v+Slovakia" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 0px;" title="Football - Slovakia v Italy FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9203147/football-slovakia-italy/football-slovakia-italy.jpg?size=380&imageId=9203147" border="0" alt="June 24, 2010 - South Africa - Football - Slovakia v Italy FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 - Group F - Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa - 24/6/10..Slovakia starting XI before the match." width="380" height="228" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Impressive Slovak Army: the find of the tournament</em></strong></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Slovakia continued with their preferred 4-4-2 formation and started the match brightly, posing questions for the Italian fort as early as in the 6<sup>th</sup> minute, while Italy looked rather nervy to begin with. Robert Vittek set the tone of the match and released a back-heal pass for Marek Hamsik, which the Slovak captain fired wide of Federico Machetti’s goal from just 12 yards out. Six minutes later, Machetti responded brilliantly to deny Vittek another opportunity to put Slovakia ahead.</div> <p style="text-align: justify;">Marcelo Lippi made two changes to the squad that featured against Paraguay as Gennaro “<em>Rhino</em>” Guttoso and Di Natale replaced Claudio Marchisio and Alberto Gilardino in the starting line-up. Lippi’s decision to leave out a fit again Andrea Pirlo on the bench hurt them badly, as creativity in the middle was conspicuous by its absence.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Slovakia took a deserved lead through Vittek in the 25<sup>th</sup> minute after Eric Jendrisek brilliantly intercepted a De Rossi pass. He perfectly laid the ball for Robert Vittek and all that Italian custodian Machetti had to do was to collect the ball from the back of the net. Slovakia continued to attack with purpose to double their lead, but were unable to break the Italian defense for the remaining of first half.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Italy dominated the proceedings in the second half and the introduction of Pirlo, ten minutes after the break, brought life to the Italian attack. Italy looked a completely different side altogether with Pirlo pulling the strings from midfield, but against the run of play, Vittek doubled the Slovak lead with just twenty minutes remaining, beating Machetti at the near post.</p> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/entertainment/football-slovakia-italy/image/9203123?term=Italy+v+slovakia" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 0px;" title="Football - Slovakia v Italy FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view1.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9203123/football-slovakia-italy/football-slovakia-italy.jpg?size=500&imageId=9203123" border="0" alt="June 24, 2010 - South Africa - Football - Slovakia v Italy FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 - Group F - Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa - 24/6/10..Slovakia's Martin Skrtel (L) and Jan Durica celebrate at the end of the match after reaching the second round." width="448" height="397" /></a><strong><em>Victory Lap: A jubilant Slovakia team after eliminating the World Champions</em></strong></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Just when Italy looked completely down and out of the encounter, Antinio Di Natale gave the Champions a ray of hope when he calmly slotted home a rebound off the Slovakian custodian, ten minutes from time. The goal rekindled the Italian hope as they attacked with venom and almost grabbed the equalizer immediately; although Quagliarella’s shot crossed the goal-line, the linesman had his flag raised for a tight offside call.</div> <p style="text-align: justify;">Slovakia took the game well out of Italy’s reach in the 89<sup>th</sup> minute, scoring their third goal of the day. Sloppy defending from the champions saw Kamil Kopunek rushing in to beat De Rossi and Cannavaro and chipping the ball over the advancing Machetti’s head to confirm Italy’s embarrassment. An injury time goal from Quagliarella made the final score-line look a little respectable for the defending Champions, but it was not enough to prevent the Azzurries from crashing out from the group stage for the first time in 36 years. <strong> </strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>TheHardTakle’s Player Of The Match: </strong><em>Robert Vittek (Slovakia) </em>The striker showed superb finishing skills to nail two goals past Marchetti, helping his team to book a berth in the knockout stages. He was involved with almost all the attacking moves created by Slovakia and showed willingness to track back to help out the defensive half whenever needed. Undoubtedly, Robert Vittek was the star performer of the day.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>TheHardTackle’s Referee Report Card </strong><em>Howard Webb (England): B+ </em>The English official had a very good game. He controlled the high flying emotions with empathy, curbed the unnecessary play acting very strictly and dealt with the rash fouls by dishing out yellow cards. He could have dished out more than just a yellow to Slovak goalkeeper Mucha for punching Quagliarella in the face, after Italy’s second goal.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">-------------------------------------------</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>MATCH STATISTICS</strong> SLOVAKIA 3-2 ITALY Venue: Johannesburg, Ellis Park Stadium Attendance: 53412</p> <strong><em> </em></strong> <strong><em>Slovakia Line-up</em></strong>: Mucha, Pekarik, Skrtel, Durica, Zabavnik, Strba (Kopunek 87’), Hamsik, Kucka, Stoch, Jendrisek (Petras 94’), Vittek (Sestek 92’) <strong>Coution</strong>: Strba (16’), Vittek (40’), Pekarik (50’), Mucha (82’) <strong>Sent off</strong>: None <strong>Goal: </strong>Vittek (25’, 73’), Kopunek (89’)<strong> </strong> <strong><em> </em></strong> <strong><em>Italy line-up</em></strong>: Marchetti, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Chiellini, Criscito (Quagliarella 46’), Gattuso (Maggio 46’), De Rossi, Montolivo (Pirlo 56’), Pepe, Iaquinta, Di Natale <strong>Coution</strong>: Cannavaro (31’), Chiellini (67’), Pepe (76’) <strong>Sent off</strong>: <strong>Goal: </strong>Di Natale “(81’), Quagliarella (92’)