World Cup Preview - Group F

Italy

Coach: Marcello Lippi


Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari)

Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)

Strikers: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli)

The defending Champions have one of the easiest groups in the tournament, which will please the traditional slow starters as they bid to equal Brazil's record of 5 World cup victories.

The Azzuri's warm up games have not gone as well as planned, with a recent loss to Mexico being followed up with a 1-1 against Switzerland.

The poor performances were blamed on fatigue, after Lippi focused the Italians training on Altitude training rather than match sharpness, in a move which he hopes will see the Italians in peak condition come the finals, but the Italian press are not happy with that excuses, branding the peformances "a flop" and "worrying".

Key Man

Alberto Giladrino - The Fiorentina front man has scored 16 goals in 41 games for his country and is expected to lead the line in this tournament.

As a youngster, Gilardino was often likened to Filippo Inzaghi and Christian Vieri for his natural goalscoring ability, which he proved by becoming Italy Under 21's all-time leading goalscorer., and again by scoring teh goal which meant Italy qualified for the world cup (an 89th Minute equalizer against Ireland).




Paraguay

Coach: Gerardo Martino


Goalkeepers: Justo Villa (Valladolid), Aldo Bobadilla (Independiente Medellin), Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteno)

Defenders: Julio Cesar Caceres (Atletico Mineiro), Denis Caniza (Leon), Dario Veron (Pumas), Paulo Da Silva (Sunderland), Claudio Morel (Boca Juniors), Carlos Bonet (Olimpia), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo), Antolin Alcaraz (Brugge)

Midfielders: Cristian Riveros (Sunderland), Jonathan Santana (Wolfsburg), Enrique Vera (Liga de Quito), Victor Caceres (Libertad), Nestor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors), Edgar Barreto (Atalanta)

Strikers: Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica), Nelson Haedo Valdez (Borussia Dortmund), Rodolfo Gamarra (Libertad), Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dormund), Edgar Benitez (Pachuca)

Coach Martino has used his sides friendlies to experiment with formations and personnel, which has provided them with mixed results (1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss) in their 3 warm-up games.

Despite naming 6 forwards in their squad, it seems unlikely that Paraguay are going to rid themselves of the tag of "least exciting South American team", and its hard to see them making any real shakes in the tournament.

A committed but technically lacking defence, shepherded by an ultra-defensive midfield, makes me think they will struggle to win games.

Key Man

Lucas Barrios - The Argentine-born striker has scored 3 goals in 3 games since receiving Paraguayan nationality in March this year. Boasting an impressive strike-rate at Borrussia Dortmund has seen the lieks of AC Milan be linked with him. If Paraguay are to progress they need him on top of his game






New Zealand

Coach: Ricki Herbert


Goalkeepers: Mark Paston (Wellington Phoenix), James Bannatyne (Team Wellington), Glen Moss (Melbourne Victory)

Defenders: Ben Sigmund (Wellington Phoenix), Winston Reid (FC Midtjylland), Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn Rovers), Tony Lochhead (Wellington Phoenix), Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City), Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town), Andrew Boyens (New York Red Bulls)

Midfielders: Simon Elliott (free agent), Aaron Clapham (Canterbury United), Tim Brown (Wellington Phoenix), Andy Barron (Team Wellington), Jeremy Christie (FC Tampa Bay), David Mulligan (free agent), Michael McGlinchey (Motherwell FC), Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix) Jeremy Brockie (Newcastle Jets)

Strikers: Chris Killen (Middlesbrough FC), Rory Fallon (Plymouth Argyle), Shane Smeltz (Gold Coast United), Chris Wood (West Bromwich Albion)

The All-whites come into their second ever World Cup hoping to get their first ever point on the biggest stage of all, after qualifying thanks to Rory Fallon's goal in their play-off victory over Bahrain.

A win over Serbia has been the highlight of their warm up campaign, which concludes today against Chile, before they take on Slovakia in their opening game in Bafokeng.

They maintain a 3-4-3 formation, and there should at least be a good understanding between the team, as not only is it well settled, 5 of the 11 play together at Wellington Phoenix, where they are managed by Ricki Herbert, who also is the manager of the National Side.

Key Man

Ryan Nelsen - The Blackburn man will have his work cut out, plying with 3 strikers high up the pitch will leave acres of space behind them, which could see team rip New Zealand to pieces, so Nelsen and the rest of his defence will need to be at the very top of their games in order to try and shut teams out.








Slovakia


Coach: Vladimir Weiss


Goalkeepers: Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw), Dusan Kuciak (Vaslui), Dusan Pernis (Dundee United)

Defenders: Peter Pekarik (Wolfsburg), Martin Petras (Cesena), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool), Jan Durica (Hannover), Radoslav Zabavnik (Mainz), Marek Cech (West Bromwich Albion), Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava)

Midfielders: Kamil Kopunek (Spartak Trnava), Jan Kozak (Timisoara), Juraj Kucka (Sparta Prague), Marek Sapara (Ankaragucu), Marek Hamsik (Napoli), Vladimir Weiss (Manchester City), Miroslav Stoch (Chelsea), Zdeno Strba (Xanthi)

Strikers: Erik Jendrisek (Schalke), Robert Vittek (Ankaragucu), Martin Jakubko (Saturn Moscow), Filip Holosko (Besiktas), Stanislav Sestak (Bochum)

Tis wll be Solvakia's first ever appearance at a major tournament, and their suprise factor could help them extend their stay past the group stages.

Not only is the team, as a whole, relatively unknown Only Marik Hamsik and Martin Skrtel are really household names, whilst the likes of widemen Vladimir Weiss and Miroslav Stoch are highly rated by their clubs, and both have been loaned out during the season to gain first-team experience.

Unbeated in their warm-up games (drawing with Cameroon, before a convincing 3-0 win over Costa Rica) the Slovaks should be coming into this tournament full of confidence, and with the kind draw I think they have a great chance of getting into the Second Round.

Key Man

Marek Hamsik - Undoubtedly the star of this team, Hamsik is the creative force of the team, and scores at an average of 1 goal every 4 games for his national side.

Italy have a knack for conceding important goals to players who play in Serie A, and with Slovakia meeting Italy in the final game of the group stages, history could be set to repeat itself.


Prediction

1. Italy
2. Slovakia
3. Paraguay
4. New Zealand