| DATE: June 20 2010 | CITY: Nelspruit | GROUP: Group F |
The fourth game of Group F in South Africa is between Italy and New Zealand on June 20. Nothing to really say here except that Italy will most likely have an easy afternoon against New Zealand, and will leave the game with the 3 points while securing the first qualifying spot of the group. The World Cup Champions are coming to South Africa to win every game and since Italy has one of the oldest teams in the tournament, the sooner they finish with the group stage the more time can rest their key World Cup players.
If New Zealand wants to be smart about this they should also rest their key players today. The weaker teams need to choose their fights wisely, so going full force against the strongest nation in your group will most likely lead nowhere. Both Slovakia and Paraguay though are definitely two teams that New Zealand can look straight in the eye, and at the same time being their biggest opponents for the second qualifying position that leads to the round of 16.
What’s interesting in today’s match up is the fact that New Zealand (and of course Italy) will already know the outcome of the game Slovakia versus Paraguay that is on the same day just few hours before. Because there is the small possibility and depending on that result, both Italy and New Zealand could benefit from a draw in Nelspruit. There are definitely a lot of ifs and maybes involved here, so we would still put our money on the Italians today and leave the complicated scenarios for gameday number three of the 2010 World Cup.
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