₦airaland Forum

^^^Slovakia have a very slim chance of qualifying. A win against Italy will see them through provided New Zealand do not get a win over Paraguay but I dont think they can beat Italy, they've been very poor. Maybe now that the stakes are very high they might just give their all and get a win over Italy

Italy are on the brink of elimination. Only a win against Slovakia who also need a win to qualify will see them through. Paraguay are as good as through

NZ so close to getting a second goal

Great save by NZ goalie

@ valacious i thought so to about the penalty until i saw the replay. The NZ defender pulled an Italian players shirt in the box

1-1 at half time. Are we set for a surprise?

GOAL!!! 1-1. Vincenzo Iaquinta from the spot

Goal!!! New Zealand in front. Shane Smeltz, the goal scorer

game's on the way. Italy playina a 4 3 3 formation. NZ playing 4 5 1. I think they here to defend

FT Paraguay 2 Slovakia 0. Slovakia have been very disappointing

2-0 Paraguay. Cristian Riveros

2nd half on the way. Paraguay still ahead

goal!!! paraguay in front. Enrique Vera

a draw or a lone goal win for Paraguay

But they met last year and Italy came back from behind thrice before they could seal a 4-3 victory. Anyways, i doubt NZ will get anything out of this match

indiscipline

I'm with the Selecao on this one. Until Nigeria qualifies before i can support any other African team

Italy goal keeper Gianluigi Buffon has been ruled out of Sunday's Group F match with New Zealand because of a herniated disc in his back.
The 32-year-old was injured during Monday's 1-1 draw against Paraguay and substituted at half time. There are fears that he way not play again during the world cup.
Italy team doctor, Enrico Castellacci said "its not easy to make a prognosis but it's a small margin and Buffon strongly wants to recuperate."
Buffon initially said he hoped "to recover in two days" but the Azzuri may now have to defend their status as world champions without him.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8740361.stm

Puma provided horrible jerseys for African teams in this world cup. They look like shiit especially the shorts.

MATCH: Paraguay vs Slovakia (Group F)
DATE: 20th June
TIME: 12:30 PM Nig. time
VENUE: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
HISTORY: Both sides have never met

REFEREE: Eddy Maillet(Seychelles)
With every first round Group F game producing a draw, the group is there to be taken. A win for Paraguay would put the team in sold position for a place in the knock out rounds with a somewhat easy fixture against New Zealand remaining

If FIFA truly wants to make football the beautiful game, it should reduce Africa's slot to 2 or 3. We performed better when we had fewer teams eg, Algeria(1982), even though they didnt make the 2nd round, they defeated European Champions, Germany and would have qualified if not for the Germany-Austria conspiracy; Cameroon(1990), Nigeria(1994). Africa have never produced two teams in the last 16 and we have the second highest number of teams together with S/America. I think South American and Asian teams deserve more slots.

@ buzugee
Ok, its no more an African world cup. The fact still remains that African teams have been poor and in 4 decades of African teams participating in the world cup, our best performance is a quarter final finish. We have the 2nd highest number of teams after Europe in this world cup.

@ buzugee
POC, Nigeria has never won the u-21 or is it u-20 championship. This is world cup on African soil, our best chance to make an impact but our teams have been poor as usual.

African teams should just give football a break. We are the only confederation yet to produce a team that will play in the semis and we've been playing in the WC. Even the USA has played in the semis before and we've been competing since God knows when. I think our slots should be given to teams like Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, they'll do a far better job. Even our only win so far was recorded in a way that will make the neutral football fan hate the game.

this story will never die. One of lil cousins asked me if it ever happened, i told him it's true. I guess he'll learn the truth when he's grown. The one i heard was that Rashidi Yekini scored our only goal after the ball had transformed to a stone and the scar is still on his left foot

MATCH: Italy Vs New Zealand

TIME :3 PM

DATE: 20th June

VENUE: Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit

HISTORY: Italy and New Zealand have met just once in the past. This meeting was a prelude to the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa, when Italy narrowly avoided a defeat to New Zealand in a high-scoring 4-3 win.

The Kiwis produced one of the moments of the 2010 World Cup on Tuesday when they pulled back a 90th minute goal to draw with Slovakia. However, they'll be up against a different beast altogether when they take on the World Champions on Saturday.

Italy's form ahead of its clash with New Zealand has been poor. The Azzuri have scored three draws, a win and a loss from their last five matches, and didn't look particularly impressive in their draw against Paraguay in their opening World Cup fixture.

Italy is sorely missing a quality striker, and four goals from five matches just isn't good enough for this team. The defence remains solid enough, conceding four goals during the same period.

New Zealand have three losses, a win and a draw from its last five matches. Not much was expected of this team at the World Cup, and they made more than a few people sit up and take notice when they drew with Slovakia in the first round of group stage matches.

New Zealand's strikers have put away four goals in the last five matches, while defence has let in eight goals during the same period.

my neighbours are Ghanians. They'll make it look like they've won the world cup. go, go, Socceroos

Ghana does not deserve any point they've earned. They play poorly

I want Ghana to get the beating of their life. If Naija goes out, Ghana must go too! Go Socceroos

the same Yobo was sitting when we conceeded the second goal against Greece.

Its only in Africa and indeed Nigeria that doltish coaches like Lagerback can get a job. A coach that spent 8 years with the Swedish national team and the best he can show for it is a second round finish in the 2002 and 2006 world cup and another second round finish in Euro 2004. Even in the uncompetitive Swedish league, he couldnt win anything. Some guys still want him retained, funny though

Give Lagerback a million years, he wont do better than he has done. He was Sweden's coach from 2002 to 2010 and what did he do? He only managed to get them into the second round of the 2002 and 2006 world cup and a quarter final appearance at Euro 2004 and considering the talents in the Swedish side, that is very poor. Anyway, i dont think he should be sacked, his contract should not just be renewed