Group F - Analysis

Teams: Italy, Paraguay, Slovakia, New Zealand

Predicted qualifiers: Italy, Paraguay

Italian squad doesn’t impress me, but they are still good enough to win this group. De Rossi and Pirlo should dominate the midfield against every opponent in the group, and I favour Gilardino and Di Natale to knock in a few goals during group stage. Buffon and his club mates should not be tested too much yet, until they face the probably the prolific Eto’o’s Cameroon or Bendtner’s Denmark. Paraguay had some world cup experiences and should see them through the Slovakian challenges, though I think the tie could swing either way, depending to the participation of the lady luck and referee’s crucial decisions. Anyway I still fancy Barreto’s long shooting ability and Santa Cruz’s height, added to the two Borrusia Dortmund’s forwards finishing ability to help them exploit the stubborn New Zealand’s defence and Skrtel’s Slovakia. Hamsik of course will the star of the Slovakian team, his versatility and ability to read games make him a danger man to every other team. The young Stoch has impressed me during his loan spell at Twente this season. He is someone who I think would provide goals for Hamsik and of course, their top scorer Sestak. But looking at overall strength, there is a very difficult task foe them to qualify from this group. New Zealand look very resistant in their warm-up games, but I doubt they could carry this into the world cup, when all the best strikers reaching their best shapes. They won’t be easily beaten, but to earn a point should be a more realistic target for them.

Below are the squad lists for the teams:

ITALY

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus/Italy), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli/Italy), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari/Italy)

Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa/Italy), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari/Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus/Italy), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus/Italy), Domenico Criscito (Genoa/Italy), Christian Maggio (Napoli/Italy), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan/Italy)

Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus/Italy), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma/Italy), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan/Italy), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus/Italy), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina/Italy), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria/Italy), Simone Pepe (Udinese/Italy), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan/Italy)

Forwards: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese/Italy), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina/Italy), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus/Italy), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria/Italy), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli/Italy).

PARAGUAY

Goalkeepers: Justo Villar (Real Valladolid/Spain), Aldo Bobadilla (Independiente Medellin/Colombia), Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteno/Paraguay)

Defenders: Denis Caniza (Leon/Mexico), Paulo Da Silva (Sunderland/England), Claudio Morel (Boca Juniors/Argentina), Julio Cesar Caceres (Atletico Mineiro/Brazil), Carlos Bonet (Olimpia/Paraguay), Dario Veron (Pumas UNAM/Mexico), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo/Argentina), Antolin Alcaraz (Wigan Athletic/England)

Midfielders: Edgar Barreto (Atalanta/Italy), Cristian Riveros (Sunderland/England), Jonathan Santana (VfL Wolfsburg/Germany), Victor Caceres (Libertad/Paraguay), Enrique Vera (LDU Quito/Ecuador), Nestor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors/Argentina)

Forwards: Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City/England), Nelson Haedo Valdez, Lucas Barrios (both Borussia Dortmund/Germany), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica/Portugal), Edgar Benitez (Pachuca/Mexico), Rodolfo Gamarra (Libertad/Paraguay)

SLOVAKIA

Goalkeepers: Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw/Poland), Dusan Kuciak (Vaslui/Romania), Dusan Permis (Dundee United/Scotland)

Defenders: Peter Pekarik (VfL Wolfsburg/Germany), Martin Petras (Cesena/Italy), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool/England), Jan Durica (Lokomotiv Moscow/Russia), Radoslav Zabavnik (Mainz/Germany), Marek Cech (West Bromwich Albion/England), Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava/Slovakia)

Midfielders: Kamil Kopunek (Spartak Trnava/Slovakia), Jan Kozak (Timisoara/Romania), Juraj Kucka (Sparta Prague/Czech Rep), Marek Sapara (Ankaragucu/Turkey), Marek Hamsik (Napoli/Italy), Vladimir Weiss (Manchester City/England), Miroslav Stoch (Chelsea/England), Zdeno Strba (Skoda Xanthi/Greece)

Forwards: Stanislav Sestak (VfL Bochum/Germany), Erik Jendrisek (Schalke 04/Germany), Robert Vittek (Lille/France), Martin Jakubko (Saturn Ramenskoye/Russia), Filip Holosko (Besiktas/Turkey)

NEW ZEALAND

Goalkeepers: James Bannatyne (Team Wellington/New Zealand), Glen Moss (Melbourne Victory/Australia) Mark Paston (Wellington Phoenix/New Zealand)

Defenders: Andy Boyens (New York Red Bulls/USA), Tony Lochhead (Wellington Phoenix/New Zealand), Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn Rovers/England), Winston Reid (FC Midtjylland/Denmark), Ben Sigmund (Wellington Phoenix/New Zealand), Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town/England), Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City/New Zealand)

Midfielders: Andy Barron (Team Wellington/New Zealand), Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix/New Zealand), Jeremy Brockie (Newcastle Jets/Australia), Tim Brown (Wellington Phoenix/New Zealand), Jeremy Christie (Tampa Bay Rowdies/USA), Aaron Clapham (Canterbury United/New Zealand), Simon Elliott (unattached), Michael McGlinchey(Motherwell/Scotland), David Mulligan (unattached)

Forwards: Rory Fallon (Plymouth Argyle/England), Chris Killen (Middlesbrough/England), Shane Smeltz (Gold Coast/Australia), Chris Wood (West Bromwich Albion/England)