NZ Remake the Italian Job

The following article has been submitted by Steffen Rusten of Auckland, New Zealand. It contains his reactions on his native teams notable performance against the Azzurri and his thoughts on the upcoming tie against Paraguay. If you feel you have ideas which could make it onto ''The Football Sacks'' front page, do not hesitate to email us your thoughts (via contact us tab) and you never know your luck. Enjoy!!

Italy played into our hands, in so much as the World Champions could ever be said to be playing into the hands of a team of journeymen and amateurs. A resolute performance from our lot, and but for a bit of naivety at times, could very seriously have resulted in a huge 3 points.

The 4-4-2 set up that Lippi decided would be best to attack our reliably predictable 3-4-3 set up really wasn't the option many would have taken. Our 3 men at the back had an extra man against their front two the whole time and managed to restrict the Italians to crosses and speculative efforts from distance. To say that we weren't tested would be a horrific oversight. We were absolutely under the pump for large periods, particularly in the latter part of the 1st half.

As it was, we got in at 1-1. Two goals that were somewhat controversial, firstly Smeltz's offside effort went in early on and rattled the Italians, and then a piece of naivety mixed with some strong gamesmanship from De Rossi led to Italy grabbing the equaliser from the spot. Heart break in NZ, with most Kiwis claiming we'd been robbed, though I find this hard to reconcile. Tommy Smith (with an I) definitely tugged the actor's shirt, and couldn't let go fast enough when he realised he was at risk - correct decision from the ref, though I have doubts around whether it would have been given at the other end of the pitch.

In the 2nd half, NZ came out and looked recommitted to shutting out the Italians for another 45. Bertos had a cracking, cracking second half and, along with Smeltzy, managed to relieve pressure at key points by holding the ball up field and embarking on 'attacking' runs. Paston was called into action time and time again, and came up trumps every time.

Then came one of the moments of the game as Chris Wood received the ball on the edge of the Italian box, turned Cannavaro inside out, and unleashed a shot that flashed just wide of the right-side post. What a moment that would have been for the 18 year old and the 4-million re-born Kiwi football fans.

I could go on for a lot longer. Books could be written about last night. In all, the draw was a fair result. Claims that the Italians were cheating were little more than naivety on the part of the All Whites, and for the most part we gave as good as we got.

Paraguay worries me. As soon as the draw was made and found out our opposition, I highlighted this game as our sternest challenge. We don't have a good track record against South American sides, and Paraguay is a very good South American side. 3 points against Italy would, in my mind, have been less of an upset than 3 points against Paraguay.

Every sensible part of my being tells me that they'll be too much for us. They attack with pace and width, two things that are well served to exploit the weaknesses of Ricki Herbert's 3-4-3 situation. We'll be looking to get compact, and play as we always to - looking to take advantage of raking diagonal balls towards Smeltz and Fallon, and getting what we can from set pieces. I can't make a prediction on a result, because if there's one thing this All Whites side has inspired me to do, it's believe.

Peace -

Steffen