The two matches in Group F also started the next day, with two draws in the first round putting the four teams on the same page, with the second round of the battle between Slovakia and Paraguay leading the way to a 2-0 win over the World Cup newcomers, a defeat that also bleaked Slovakia's prospects of qualifying from the group.

At the heart of the team's attack and defence, Hamsik, who plays for European hegemon Fiorentina, failed to continue his form in the first game, and his sluggish performance also surprised Slovak fans.

The clash with Paraguay was crucial for Slovakia as they were held to a late draw by a generally unfavourable New Zealand in the opening round, while defending champions Italy were in the final round.

Slovakia had to win the match against Paraguay if they wanted to take the initiative to qualify, but the result was a defeat for Slovakia, and the sluggish performance of Hamsik, the heart of the team, was also a big reason for Slovakia's loss.

In the opening game, Hamsik delivered a perfect answer with a goal, and at the same time, his midfield provided a lot of support to the front, but in the end Slovakia was helplessly forced to draw by New Zealand, losing the advantage of the start.

After a few days of rest, while the 23-year-old midfielder was expected to continue to perform flawlessly and help the team out of trouble, the Slovak described as a genius was disappointed.

In attack, Hamsik did not contribute much, more to see him dribble again and again in vain, and defensively, the versatile midfielder could not share the pressure on the defense at the back, and the team could only accept the bitter consequences of a 2-0 defeat in the end.

Looking at the stats from Hamsik in this game, it is even more indicative of the poor performance of the so-called Slovak midfielder.

It is a shame that Hamsik did not have a single shot on goal, and in terms of the number of crosses, Hamsik had only one goal, which made the Slovakian forwards almost a decoration in the box, and it is not surprising that the whole team only had six shots on goal.

Hamsik's successful passes in this game were also pitiful, which is too far from a midfield playmaker, and it is no exaggeration to say that Hamsik spent this game completely sleepwalking.

In Fiorentina, Hamsik was able to put Montolivo on the bench and become the absolute main force of Fiorentina this season, but the talented Hamsik's sleepwalking form in this game is surprising and at the same time, it also makes people re-examine the problem of how much pressure on young players can be in the World Cup.

Especially at a young age, he became the core of the team, which made the burden on the players a lot heavier, and Hamsik is exactly like this, the reason why he did not perform well, excessive pressure is an indispensable reason, after all, he is only 23 years old, and his first appearance on the stage of the World Cup is inevitable.

Now after two rounds, Slovakia only have a pitiful point, they now only have a theoretical hope of qualifying, and the final round against Italy will be Hamsik's last chance to prove his strength in this World Cup, even if he can't lead the team to create a miracle, at least Hamsik should be in good shape.

Slovakia lost because of the poor performance of the core Hamsik, while the Paraguayans had the last laugh because of their veteran Santa Cruz.

In the first game of Italy, the Paraguayan media repeatedly questioned why Valdés started, the Dortmund striker explained himself as a "powerful faction", and Santa Cruz started the second game.

Paraguayan coach Martino has "happy troubles", admitting before the first game against Italy that "12 people compete for 11 positions" and "four famous catches" are available, but the title of the defending champion made Martino pragmatically choose conservative tactics, and Santa Cruz had to go to the bench.

The performance of Santa Cruz, who came off the bench, made the media simply not rate the former Bayern striker, and Santa Cruz had no opinion, apparently he also knew that his performance was completely substandard.

In this game, Paraguay and Slovakia had a direct dialogue, which can be called the "decisive battle" for qualifying, and Martino, who intended to score points, sent Santa Cruz to play in the trident as the Paraguayan media wished.

Santa Cruz, who started the game, did not disappoint Martino, who trusted him, and the first "power" came very early, when the Manchester City striker shot with his right foot in front of the penalty area in the third minute, with good arc and strength, and the Slovak goalkeeper tried his best to save the ball.

Santa Cruz then had another good chance to score, when the City striker burst into the box and fired a right-footed shot into the far corner, only to be denied by the Slovakian goalkeeper's right toe again.

Although there was no goal, in the 27th minute, Santa Cruz crossed from inside the box to assist Vela to score, which was also perfect, and his pass went straight through the gap between the two Paraguayan defenders, and all Vela needed to do was a gentle push.

Martino's conservative thinking relapsed at half-time, the flag waved, the city gate closed, Santa Cruz withdrew to the left flank to assist the defense, Manchester City striker did not stick to the position, still had a wonderful play, especially a precise cross from the left rib, people couldn't help but applaud, but it was a pity that Vela's header was slightly wide.

However, at the last moment of the game, Santa Cruz once again made the Paraguayan fans at the scene give a collective standing ovation, after he broke through on the side, a cross, and Liviros, who was ambushed at the back point, jumped high and headed the ball, expanding the score to 2:0.

With two games and four points, Paraguay is in a good situation when the overall strength of the group is weak, but the defending champions do not play well.

Defending champions Italy also used their performance to make Paraguay's qualification situation more favourable, and they drew with their opponents after 90 minutes against New Zealand, the weakest opponent in the group.

What is even more unacceptable is that if it weren't for a penalty, they might even fall at the feet of the New Zealander.

It is precisely because of this penalty that the Italians can at least get something after this game, because since losing to South Korea in the 1/8 finals in 2002, Italy has not lost nine consecutive games in the World Cup.

Although Italy maintained its unbeaten record in two World Cups with a thrilling draw with Iaquinta's penalty kick, the defending champions looked old and had completely fallen into the team's humiliating trough, and it can be said that Italy has never stopped regressing in the past four years.

Four years ago in the German World Cup, the Apennines, who had just experienced the "phone gate", were full of gloomy expectations for Italy's World Cup prospects, but the blue team led by Lippi won the fourth championship trophy in history in one fell swoop without being favored, but this shining ascent to the top seems to be more like a lightning bolt in the night sky, after a flash. The world of the Italian national team is once again in darkness.

After the World Cup, Lippi retired, Donadoni took over, with the aftermath of the World Cup, Italy hoped to regain the Euros lost at the last moment in 2000, but two years later in the European Championships, Italy was defeated by the Netherlands by three goals in the first game, and then was forced to draw by Romania, and finally although it defeated France to finish second in the group, it met Spain after qualifying from the group and was eliminated on penalties.

Donadoni's poor results and the Italian Football Federation had no one to use, and finally had to ask Lippi to come out again, but the Silver Foxes did not completely change the face of the team, and since then they have reversed the team, but have reclocked the team by two years, back to 2006.

In the 2009 Confederations Cup, as a preview of the World Cup in South Africa, the world champion Italy participated with the champions of all continents, and Italy defeated the later runner-up United States 3:1 in the opening game, which made people see Lippi's transformation of the team, but then lost 0:1 to the African champion Egypt, and the last game was humiliated by Dunga's practical samba 0:3 at halftime, and finally went out directly after the group.

From Lippi to Donadoni, and then back to Lippi, originally on the basis of the world championship, Italy could have ushered in the best opportunity for innovation, but due to the excessive pursuit of game results and excessive dependence on veterans, in the past four years, the core lineup of the Italian squad is still Buffon, Cannavaro, Pirlo and others, but the four years of wind and frost, the wrinkles carved on their bodies are clearly visible, Cannavaro returned to Juventus from Real Madrid, and now he can only go to West Asia to pan for gold, Buffon is subject to the chaos of Juventus, Gattuso and Camoranesi are growing fat, while the aging Pirlo is battling injuries.

The World Cup is held every four years, originally a cycle of recuperation and renewal, in Germany, Brazil suffered a heavy defeat, but after Dunga's screening and tuning, it is already the favorite to win the World Cup in South Africa, but as the defending champion, four years have passed, Italy's head coach is still Lippi, but from the 2006 World Cup champion, to the 2008 European Cup to stop in the top 8, the 2009 Confederations Cup group stage did not qualify, and now in South Africa, Lippi's team has now been forced into a desperate situation, if you want to qualify smoothly, It will have to beat Slovakia, but it is still possible to face the orange team Netherlands in 16 to 8, and it is doubtful whether Italy can beat Slovakia in two games, and the gap with the Netherlands, which has become ugly, is even more world-apart.

It is undeniable that Juventus has always been the pillar of the Italian national team, and Juventus has always been the most stable and powerful team in Italy, but it is also undeniable that now this Juventus, after experiencing the "phone gate", is no longer the Juventus that people are familiar with, maybe one day they can become the strong again, but at least not now, the current Juventus, in the season that has just ended, They are only seventh in Serie A and still need to play the play-offs to reach the main stage of the UEFA Cup, but it is such a team that Lippi has selected six players.

Among the six players, the selection of Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini is not a problem, but Camoranesi, who has been injured for a season, already has a small belly and is in poor physical condition, but Lippi still chooses the latter between six-time champion Fiorentina's Ledesma and him, which shows Lippi's preference for Juventus.

Marchisio Lippi chose and regretted it, was replaced on the field, and was reprimanded in training, Iaquinta played two main games, except for one penalty, dedicated to people is frequent mistakes, the worst is Cannavaro, the superstar of four years ago, this year left two shameful mistakes, resulting in two goals conceded, people can't think of any reason, such a state of Cannavaro, but also with the national team to mix a World Cup.

What's even more ironic is that Italy's two goals were made by Roma players who ranked second in Serie A this season, one is De Rossi's goal, and the second is also a penalty made by De Rossi, but unfortunately, Cassetti and Totti, who have the strength to be selected for the national team in the Roma team, did not get Lippi's call, and in the main lineup of the two games, the most outstanding performance was not De Rossi, but Zambrotta from AC Milan, but you must know that the 33-year-old Zambrotta is even in AC Milan, Also Abate's understudy.

The result is a situation in which the Italian starting line-up, which includes four Juventus players, is looking forward to AC Milan's Andrea Pirlo's return in the final group game to be a savior.

In the AC Milan lineup, in addition to Pirlo, Lippi chose AC Milan's two current players who cannot play the main team, Gattuso and Zambrotta, while Ambrosini, Antonini and other players who have the ability to be selected for the national team have been excluded from the national team by Lippi for various reasons.

The coach of any national team should choose players based on form rather than superstition and empiricism, Lippi can say that the league champion Fiorentina lacks Italian players in the main team, but the second and third places in the league Roma and AC Milan, the moment only four players are selected, this Italian team is doomed to poor combat effectiveness.

Now after two rounds, although the defending champions still have a good chance of qualifying from the group, counting on such a group of old people, Lippi wants to continue his magic on the World Cup stage, I am afraid it can only exist in the fantasy stage.

New Zealand, who drew with the defending champions in this round, will still be out of the tournament even in the end, but with such a draw and two goals so far, they can leave South Africa with their heads on their backs.