Preview: Italy vs. New Zealand

June 19th, 2010 | by: admin |

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THE BIG PICTURE

The two teams will be converging on from either side of the football spectrum: Italy has the history and the World Cup trophy technically still in tote; New Zealand is a minnow at this tournament and earned history with their first ever point in the Slovakian opener.

Of course that also means they be converging from equally polar points one reverse ends at this World Cup: Italy were disappointed with their 1-1 opener while New Zealand were chuffed – even if the goal they conceded was offside.

This is still very much David v Goliath. But Italy’s no Brazil right now, particularly without Gigi Buffon, and if North Korea had a prayer…..

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Funnily enough, none were more pleased outside of Oceania with Winston Reid’s dramatic equalizer than Italy. It kept all teams level with one point and one goal scored across the four, making Group F a statistical wash. So we start anew with Italy needing to speed up those quadrennial whispers of a slow start and simply get their insipid attack clicking.

For New Zealand, it’s all about finding the slipper once again and perhaps, just maybe, doing the unthinkable.

Bet on Italy vs. New Zealand

OUR PREDICTION

Despite the draw, a lot of good things happened during the Paraguay game for Italy – not including failing to jump on the one South American scoring chance. As tournaments go on, they get better and showed improvements even within the ninety minutes. This one’s probably a bridge too far for the Kiwis. 2-1 Italy.

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