It seems that the trend of upsets and unexpected finishes for European favorites in this year's tournament is far from over. Day 10 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup saw yet another highly favored European squad, this time defending champion Italy, perform way below that which was expected of them.
Facing the lightly regarded New Zealand team, the defending champions settled for a disappointing draw (1:1) in their Group F match. This makes their final group stage match against Slovakia extremely crucial as they may face elimination if things go awry.
The contrasting reactions of both teams after the draw was indicative of the magnitude of the surprise draw.
In a report published in Yahoo! Sports by Andrew Dampf, AP Sports writer, the delight in the New Zealand camp was clearly seen in this quote from its coach:
“I think that stopped the nation,” New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert said. “It’s the most incredible result we’ve had across the board. As a football coach, it’s way above anything we’ve achieved in the history of the game.
“We are always daring to dream. At the World Cup anything is possible— we’ve seen some strange results—but nothing as big as that one.”
On the other hand, the disappointment was extremely evident in the quote of the Azzurri coach, also from the report published in Yahoo! Sports by Andrew Dampf, AP Sports writer:
“We’re just sorry we didn’t win a match we could have,” Italy coach Marcello Lippi said. “If we didn’t win against New Zealand it’s our fault. Once again, the opponent scored on their first chance. We were able to control the game after that, but this was a match we should have won.”
With the way things are going, I wouldn't be all that surprised if the defending champions get ousted from the tournament after only the group matches. How bizarre can that be if that indeed happens...
Source: http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/italy-held-to-stunning-1-1-draw-by-n-zealand--fbintl_ap-wcup-italy-newzealand.html
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