Indeed this edition shall go down as the one with most upsets. For, in an unprecedented event in World Cup history, both the finalists of the previous version have been routed out in the first stage itself.
I stand stunned and can barely believe these words even as I type them, the World Champions finish last in Group F with a paltry two points.
I watched helplessly even as Robert Vittek scored a resounding goal in each half to post a 2-0 lead at the Ellis Park Stadium. But Antonio Di Natale made it 2-1 with nine minutes on the clock for the Azzurri to somehow scrape the 1 point that would have saved them the blues.
But Slovakia substitute Kamil Kopunek decided the match in the 89th, running onto a throw-in before lifting the ball brilliantly beyond advancing goalkeeper Federico Marchetti. Substitute Fabio Quagliarella made it 3-2 with a superb injury-time strike and Simone Pepe came close as the Italians gave it everything they had in the hopes of averting a shambolic exit.
At the end of it all the only analogy I could draw was: had soccer been tennis, Slovakia would have been the un-seeded underdogs who managed an upheaval by ousting the World Champions, no more, not by a stroke of luck or chance but sheer craft and innovative approach to the game.
Popularity: 1% [?]
