2010 FIFA World Cup Preview: Italy vs. Slovakia In Group F

If Italy does not get out of Group F, it may be one of the more historic collapses in World Cup history.

Before the World Cup, everyone was pointing to Italy to have the easiest time of the top teams getting out of their group. It was to be a breeze.

That breeze has turned into gale force winds.

Through two games, Italy sits with two points. They are tied with New Zealand. Paraguay leads the group with four points and Slovakia, Italy's final opponent in the group stage, is last with one point.

Everything is still up in the air.

Slovakia had probably half-expected they would be joining Italy in advancing on, and they still may, but they have had a dismal start to the World Cup.

A draw with New Zealand and a loss to Paraguay sees them with only one point.

After the loss to Paraguay, Slovakia coach Vladamir Weiss was disappointed with his team's effort.

"We made two mistakes and conceded two goals," he said. "There was always punishment for our mistakes."

Slovakia managed only one shot on goal the entire game, and that came in injury time at the end of the match.

Italy, for the second consecutive match, allowed a first goal by the opposing team and fell behind. In the match versus New Zealand the conceded in the seventh minute. They were able to get the equalizer in the 29th minute on a goal by Vincenzo Iaquinta, but were never able to take the lead.

Coach Marcello Lippii was happier with the performance by his team, but unhappy with the result. Italy out-shot New Zealand 23 to 5, and had a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. They kept possession for an impressive 79 percent of the time. But again, the only stat that mattered was the 1-1 score line.

"We're just sorry we didn't win a match we could have,"  Lippi said. "If we didn't win against New Zealand it's our fault. Once again, the opponent scored on their first chance. We were able to control the game after that, but this was a match we should have won."

Regardless, they didn't, and they enter the game with Slovakia needing to win.

Three of the four teams in the group will advance for certain with a win. Italy, New Zealand and Paraguay all control their own fate. Only Slovakia could win and still not advance. Italy could draw with Slovakia and still advance if Paraguay beats New Zealand.

Italy may have the services of AC Milan playmaker Andrea Pirlo for the match. Pirlo missed the first two games recovering from a muscular injury. It was likely Italy figured to be able to win those two games without Pirlo.

Italy's striker Alberto Gilardino is remaining positive, despite the possible disastrous situation the Azzurri find themselves in.

"The important thing is to look forward not back,'' Gilardino said. "The possibility to go through is there just as our will to win. In our first two games, we wanted to create something important but we were not able to do so."

"Paraguay and New Zealand didn't cause much danger to us but we still failed to make the most of our chances. The will is there but the problem is that we are lacking ideas.''

Lippi is also trying to cast a positive light.

"We can still do important things in this World Cup,'' he said. "It's within our possibilities. We can do so much better than what we have done so far."

The game will be played on Thursday at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. It will play at the same time when the match between New Zealand and Paraguay is taking place at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.