Italy vs Paraguay Match Preview
The current world champion will have to defend the crown against Gerardo Martino and his new acquisition, Lucas Barrios
This will be the second time these two teams face each other. The only precedent is obsolete now, for it comes from a match played 60 years ago, in which the Europeans defeated Paraguay 2-0 on Brazilian ground. In 1998 a friendly match took place, which had Italy as the winner. But thanks to Gerardo "Tata" Martino Paraguay recovered the best of its football during the last years, as team's solid performance in the CONMEBOL has clearly shown. Paraguay's focus on the physical aspects of the game might surprise the Squadra Azzurra, heavily focused on technique and ball control.
Paraguay's unsung heroes
Monday will be an important day for Gerardo Martino and his squad, for the first match will already by a final for the Charruas, having to take on one of Europe's sturdiest defense (As Italy's captain Fabio Cannavaro recognized during an interview these days), but luckily for Paraguay's coach it looks like the American squad wields the appropriate weapons to break Italy's defense. Nevertheless, Oscar Cardozo's almost confirmed absence for this match (experiencing a number of physical problems upon his arrival in South Africa) will seriously weaken team's firepower, but Lucas Barrios appears to be the right man to take the offense on its back and lead Paraguay towards a historical triumph.
Barrios has given up his Argentina's citizenship to participate in this competition, and this is the kind of offering Tata Martino is looking for in his squad. In three matches played for its new National Football Team, Barrios scored three goals, and if Cardozo is not his partner, Manchester City's Roque Santa Cruz will be Barrios' second man. The last few years have been rather prolific for Paraguay when it comes to new strikers. Far away are the times when the team had a solid defense but was lacking speed and determination in the last meters.
This will be the eighth time Paraguay takes part in a world championship, but this does not mean the Paraguayans are experienced in this kind of tournament, as they've never gotten any further than the second stage in a World Championship. Records have already been broken during the qualifying stages and it looks like the situation will remain the same in the Black Country. The present is rather different from this historic perspective: Justo Villar has much to do with this change of view, as this experienced goalkeeper has kept his goal shut in more than half of the matches played this year for his National Team.
The Albirroja have two of America's top wingers, with Claudio Morel and Dario Veron providing solidity and experience in the bands. Aged 30 and 32 years respectively, both players have insane skills as gunners, and might offer a new striking angle to this squad. Edgar Barreto is the man in charge of Paraguay's heavy artillery, a key player in the Italian football and a nightmare for any defense that has to stand against his blows. His arrival to South Africa was a dramatic one, for it seemed he might miss the opening game, but everything appears to confirm he's fully recovered now.
The importance of this match is so big for Paraguay that Fernando Lugo, head of state, declared Monday a national holiday, so people can focus their energy to take the team to the top of the group, if only for a few days. Team's players are confident their aggressiveness might earn them a place in the Knockouts, and a victory at the debut against the champion will indeed reinforce their dreams.
Italy: From riches to rags
Italy's present is indeed a fragile one, as Marcelo Lippi's Squadra has not been able to obtain a single victory in this year, having faced theoretically "weak" rivals. Italy's classic strategy (Catenaccio) deserves to be correctly explained, to understand how some voices of discontent regarding Lippi's strategy have been heard in the last months.
Opposing to many other teams, Italy favors the whole package over the individual capabilities, maybe relegating the abilities of certain players to better coordinate their interaction with the rest of the team. Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta will have to teach their partners in Italy's back line how to better adapt to this controversial strategy. Lippi's focus in experience is quite strong, and for this reason most of the players are over 30 years old. Their deep understanding of coach's strategy is what's keeping new starts from shine in his team.
It's yet unknown whether Andrea Pirlo or Mauro Camoranesi will be able to perform. The first one has been recovering from an injury during a long time, and it doesn't look like he might be 100% ready to perform against Paraguay. It was suspected L'architetto will be ready to return for the third match, but during the last days he's been unable to train at all. Mauro Camoranesi's knee problem might keep him away from the fields too, deeply weakening Italy's offensive strategy. Nevertheless the former Argentinean might actually be within the starting eleven, depending on the last days of recovery. "It'd be impossible without Pirlo and Camoranesi" declared several members of the Italian press.
Vincenzo Iaquinta will probably have a key role in this match, as Lippi is thinking on a 4-2-3-1 formation with Iaquinta as a Trequartista. But Paraguay's back line is almost unbreakable, and it will take a lot of creativity to find an open space behind their defense. To make things worse, Paulo Da Silva and Julio Cesar Caceres completely dominate aerial play, closing another possible attack point for the European team.
Communication in the Squadra Azzura will be fundamental, as it might be difficult to lead the ball towards Paraguay's area without any creative man in the midfield. Andrea Pirlo's absence only make the problem deeper, and a defeat can prove lethal for a fragile champion. Riccardo Montolivo will asume the creative role, while Simone Pepe might be the unexpected partner of Iaquinta and Di Natale in Italy's offensive trident.
Read also: All Eyes On The Azurri
