Slovakia vs Italy, First Half: Robert Vittek Puts Slovakia On Top
Not even 30 seconds had passed away in the match when Di Natale fired a daring shot from the midfield area only to warn Slovakia about Italy’s intentions to score and win the game. Vicenzo Iaquinta was in a better position to put the Azzurri in a very early lead a minute later and it was astonishing to see him drive the ball awfully wide from 5 yards.
As Slovakia were looking to recover from the poor attacking play that saw them effect only one shot on goal against Paraguay, they used pace to match Italy’s defense. Captain Hamsik had a glorious opportunity to score Slovakia’s second ever goal in a World Cup; the opportunity got wasted as the Napoli man made a weak shot to let the ball roll wide for a goal kick. Unbelievably, Slovakia found the breakthrough with a teasing 25th minute Vittek shot which completed Kucka through ball. At that point, Italy and New Zealand – who were drawing goalless with Paraguay – were out.
Simone Pepe unsuccessfully attempted to emulate Vittek’s strike a minute later and frustration could be seen everywhere with Italians fans in the stands making anxious faces and Gianluigi Buffon clutching his face on the sidelines. Strba nearly made it 2-0 but Italy’s goalkeeper produced a great save to defend his goal line.
Upfront, nothing seemed to work for Di Natale and Iaquinta as they just couldn’t be served the right balls. Goal scorer Robert Vittek somehow tarnished his game with a vicious tackle on Fabio Cannavaro for which he sustained a yellow card. Skrtel almost headed in an own goal from the resulting free-kick but was relieved to see the ball fly over the bar.
Later on, Strba suffered a very bad tackle from Gattuso who was attempting to kick the ball out of the Slovakian’s legs. Howard Webb had to call off play for a while as the player’s fractured leg was being treated on the pitch. Kopunek was ready to come onto the field after his team mate got stretched off. But the injured player was keen to return and play. At the break, Marcello Lippi’s men were down by a goal to nil and needed power from above to turn things around.
Slovakia vs Italy, Second Half: Slovakia Do The Impossible!
The Italians were struggling to control their nerves and anxiety as things weren’t going their way. Marcello Lippi decided to send Andrea Pirlo into the battlefield as the Azzurri were looking to find a way past Slovakia’s midfield and defense. On the hour mark, Di Natale came close to unlocking the gates that kept Italy behind with a long range strike that was amazingly caught by Slovakia’s keeper. Substitute Quagliarella had a shot cleared off the line by Liverpool’s Skrtel. The expression on the striker’s face afterwards explained how frustrated he was as time was running out to get the right result.
Danger occurred again for the World Cup defending champions when Slovakia broke away; Stoch’s curling shot was inches away from rounding up the victory for his side. The Italians could breathe again.
Now yet another shock popped up as Vittek found the net in the 73rd minute to finally make it 2-0 for Slovakia. The goal came from a corner with Captain Hamsik providing a good pass in the buildup. Surely now, the giants of Europe were going home. Vittek, however, had scored his 22nd international goal to be only two short of the all-time record.
There was some hope for the Italians later on as Di Natale pulled a goal back for the Azzurri in the 81st minute. In the meantime, Quagliarella and Slovakia’s goalkeeper picked up a yellow card each for a clash. Di Natale’s goal had boosted the Italians’ spirits. The Azzurri applied more pressure in attack and Quagliarella thought he had leveled the score line to 2-2 but the referee ruled his goal out for offside.
Disaster came upon Italy like a black out when Kopunek, who had finally just come one for Strba chipped the ball over Italy’s goalkeeper to impressively make it 3-1 with a minute of normal time remaining. But Quagliarella found some light for the defending champions with a beautiful goal from long distance to lessen the deficit with just a little more than four minutes of added time remaining. The Slovakians also played the game by wasting time with another substitution and, certainly, faked injuries.
The referee blew the whistle which sounded agonizing in the ears of the 2006 World Cup champions. Historically, Slovakia had progressed into the Round of 16 in their first ever World Cup tournament by disqualifying the World Cup defending champions. The ground of Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium will forever keep the traces of the Italians’ tears of sorrow and the Slovakians’ tears of joy.
