Slovakia v. Paraguay 0-2 20/Jun/10

Second Round, Fourth Game, Group F, Day 10. (27 of 64)


Another Americanista scoring.
[Photo: Daily Mail]

Sometimes football requires sacrifice and certainly one of the most valuable sacrifices made is not by the players, but by the hordes of fans who seemingly and with blind love get up early in the morning (Central Mexican time) to watch probably a game which nobody will - even some of the fans in their own countries. In this time the sacrifice brought us into another dismal match in which the Paraguayans edged the Slovakians with a solid and convincing two-goal victory.

Probably Paraguay are the team, based in their outstanding performances, who will have the edge in the next stage. Italy, a feeble ghost of that successful World Cup winning team, are far from being a contender and it wouldn't be a surprise or a shock that they could be left out due to their strange and despicable performances. All will be decide on the 24 at Johannesburg and Polokwane where the former World Cup champions face Slovakia and the Paraguayans feature the All Whites.



Skrtel versus Alcaraz.
[Photo: AP via Daily Mail]

The beginning of the game was representative of what this Paraguayan team has been doing throughout the tournament: hard working, handy job without any type of overtly-hyped stylish gameplay. From the beginning the work of the South American midfield created a chance for Santa Cruz, which was palmed away by Mucha. The onslaught against the poor Slovakian keeper -unaided by his defence- kept going with Valdez, Vera, Barrios and Riveros who combined shots against the European target in the 18th.

A magnificent goal was a result from the combination of the genius of Barrios with the effort of Vera: the playmaker set Vera who managed to put the ball in the back of the net with the outer part of his boot, in the 29th minute. The weak and feeble chances made by Weiss's men were a wide header in the 37th by Saláta. Before the break there was a clear red card foul in Riveros which went only yellow when Sestak stumbled him.


The following half was the ultimate proof of the dominance of the American team. Riveros's cameo was outstanding considering the area from which the ex-Cruz Azul player scored the second to end all aspirations of the "local" team. Santa Cruz, whose sole presence in the box was haunting enough for the opposition, crossed for Vera to shot. The effort went wide in the 70th. In the final second minutes of the match the overwhelming activity on Slovakia's half took its toll as a Riveros shot gave the two-goal advantage and secured the game finally. Impressively the Slovakians made their first shot on target in the final minute of the match.