Live The Pitch

Italy has been officially knocked out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup after falling 3-2 to Slovakia.  The defending champions finished in 4th place for the first time in their great history.

In the other match Paraguay and New Zealand drew 0-0.  Paraguay finished on top of the group with 5 points and Slovakia finishes second with 4 points.

After drawing its first two matches Italy knew that a win could get them into the knockout round.  This is by far the biggest upset of the tournament.  Slovakia is a solid team but Italy choked in my opinion.  Typically Italy is very strong defensively and rarely gives up goals but today they were awful.

Slovakia took the early lead in the 25th minute when Robert Vittek’s shot from 18 yards out found the back post side net.  Vitteck would then make it 2-0 in the 73rd minute beating his defender to the near post to find the net.

Italy showed a lot of heart in the second half and had a few chances to actually tie the match.  Antonio Di Natale got the Italians on the board in the 81st minute but Kamil Kopunek answered just 7 minutes later for Slovakia.  Italy would not go down without a fight though as they made it 3-2 when Fabio Quagliarella scored in the 90th minute.  Italy had a great chance to earn the draw in the last seconds but could not break through.

HAHA just kidding!  That will surely be the headline tomorrow in the North Korean press!  North Korean leader Kim Jong Il will surely not let his people know that his beloved soccer team lost!  After hearing that the North Korean fans in attendance at the game were actually paid Chinese actors you never know what North Koreans will hear.

In the first match of the day New Zealand and Slovakia would end in a 1-1 draw.   New Zealand earned their first ever point in a World Cup match.  Winston Reid scored a brilliant goal for New Zealand in the 93rd minute to earn the point.  Reid found himself open on the back post and elevated above the defense to head it into the net.

Slovakia took the lead in the 50th minute when Robert Vittect headed home a great service as he got in behind the New Zealand defense.  Vittect appeared to be offside after seeing the replay but the linesman was a few yards out of position and could not see the advantage.  Slovakia had held New Zealand to just a few dangerous chances near the goal throughout the match, so to lose points this late in the match was devastating.

In the second match of the day Portugal and Ivory Coast drew 0-0.  Neither team will come away with this result happy as there was never a good flow to the match.  Ivory Coast had more chances but Portugal had their share as well.  Portugal looked like a one man team with Cristiano Ronaldo being the only threat.  Didier Drogba would be used as a second half sub, but failed to get involved like his usual self.

In the late match, Brazil defeated North Korea 2-1.  Brazil dominated from whistle to whistle but failed to break through until the 55th minute when Maicon got in behind the North Korean and his cross beat the goalkeeper at the near post finding the side netting.

North Korean goalkeeper Ri Myung-Guk anticipated the ball coming into the six but the shot would surprise him and beat him near side.

Brazil doubled their lead in the 72nd minute after Robinho played an excellent through ball to a streaking Elano who drilled sent it in with a great first touch shot.

North Korea made things interesting when they caught Brazil sleeping in the 89th minute when Ji Yun-Nam dribbled past two defenders before beating Julio Cesar with a great left footed goal.  It was too little too late in the end for North Korea but they will come away with this result as a huge moral victory.  Yes, Brazil could have easily won by a wider margin if the finished their chances, but North Korea played with a lot of fight and stayed organized throughout the match.

Here is a great video of the goals from today by David Matthews with some great music over at Deadspin.com-Your Culturally Insensitive World Cup Goal Roundup For June 15th

Bob Bradley has announced his roster that will face Slovakia this Saturday, November 14.  The roster Bradley has assembled has plenty of different faces than what he has been using the past few months.  There are big names not on the roster due to club team commitments including the players still competing in the MLS playoffs.

Here is the team-

Goalkeepers- Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Troy Perkins (Valerenga, Norway)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Heath Pearce (Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)

Midfielders: Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus, Denmark), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (Dallas), Robbie Rogers (Columbus)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Conor Casey (Colorado), Jeff Cunningham (Dallas, England), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)

Here is the lineup we would field here at Livethepitch.com.  This is a quality squad with the only exception being on the left flanks.  Bradley still has not found a proven left back and left midfielder.  This has to be fixed before next summer!