Slovakia beat Italy by 3-2 in the Ellis Park Stadium of Johannesburg, leaving the World Cup Champions outside the round of 16 as well as dead last in Group F of the tournament. Slovakia took the second spot in the final standings and is advancing to the second round of the World Cup 2010 in South Africa behind Paraguay.

Slovakia came strong in the game and showed early that they were ready to look Italy straight in the eye and fight as equals. Captain Marek Hamšík fired a dangerous shot in the 6th minute that barely missed the target. Róbert Vittek’s shot a few minutes later did not miss though, and Slovakia took the lead putting Italy in a very difficult situation just 25 minutes in the game. A few Italian attempts by Simone Pepe and Giorgio Chiellini did not really worry goalkeeper Ján Mucha, but on the other side Federico Marchetti was working overtime to block a tough shot by Zdeno Štrba in 35′.

Marcello Lippi tried to bring Italy back in the game and made two substitutions during half time, as well as playing his last card ten minutes later by putting Andrea Pirlo on the field. Antonio Di Natale missed a close shot in 56′, another one by the same player was blocked by Mucha in 63′, and four minutes after Fabio Quagliarella missed a huge chance to score an equaliser for Italy. And when everyone thought that the World Cup Champions were back on track, Slovakia scored a second one: Hamšík sent the ball in the heart of Italy’s defence, Fabio Cannavaro made a mistake and Vittek once again made it 2-0 for Slovakia.

But the game was not over, far from it. Di Natale scored a goal for Italy in 81′, and the next 15 minutes of the game were as dramatic as it gets with both teams putting up a huge fight. Quagliarella scored for Italy in 85′ but it was immediately marked as an off-side. Just two minutes later Kamil Kopúnek came in as a substitution for Slovakia (to probably eat some time off the clock), and the very first time he got the ball he also scored another goal for his national team! Quagliarella made it 3-2 for Italy in the second minute of extra time, and in 95′ Pepe lost a fantastic chance to tie the game and send Italy to the second round.

World Cup 2010 - Related posts:

1. Italy World Cup 2010 team roster The coach of Italy Marcello Lippi has selected the following 23 player squad for the World Cup 2010 in South...
2. New Zealand puts Italy in trouble Italy was unable to get a first victory in the World Cup 2010 tournament, and after the 1-1 draw against...
3. World Cup 2010 friendly matches Most World Cup 2010 teams are already in South Africa or flying in this week, but there are still quite...
4. New Zealand stays undefeated and out of the World Cup Paraguay and New Zealand settled with a goalless tie in the Peter Mokaba Stadium of Polokwane for their last game...
5. Paraguay kept Italy at 1-1 The World Champions Italy settled with a draw against Paraguay for the opening match of Group F in the World...