Paraguay 0 Spain 1

Scorer: Villa (Spa)

Attendance: 55359

Spain won through to a potentially epic semi-final meeting with Germany but the European champions had to do it the hard way requiring a lone second-half strike from David Villa to edge past a typically resolute Paraguay 1-0 at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park. The goal saw Villa move to outright lead of the adidas Golden Boot with five goals but the match was as much a tale of two failed spot-kicks, one for each side.

A confident Vicente del Bosque fielded an unchanged Spanish line-up to that which defeated neighbours Portugal 1-0 four days ago. Conversely Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino made a remarkable six changes to the team which squeezed past Japan on penalties. Left out were his trio of misfiring strikers with Roque Santa Cruz, Edgar Benitez and Lucas Barrios all remaining on the bench.

Both sides went into the match aiming for new zeniths. Spain made a top-four finish in 1950 in a round-robin final stage but they have never competed in a FIFA World Cup™ semi-final, while Paraguay had already achieved a first by progressing past the Round of 16.

If Spain were feeling complacent then one of the new faces in La Albirroja’s forward line, Jonathan Santana, provided an early wake-up call by forcing Iker Casillas into a save in the opening minute. Paraguay didn’t allow Spain to settle and successfully disrupted their normally crisp passing game during the first half. In-form David Villa only rarely found space on the left flank in the early stages, while at the other end Nelson Valdez looked dangerous whenever Paraguay made forays forward.

Spain midfielder Xavi took matters into his own hands on the half hour mark with a wonderful snap shot; the dipping volley from 30 metres clearing the crossbar with goalkeeper Justo Villar scrambling. Minutes later at the other end Santana narrowly failed to connect with a diving header from a Claudio Morel cross. Valdez then had the ball in the net four minutes before the break only to see his effort disallowed for offside as Paraguay finished the first half in a positive frame of mind.

The second half commenced in similar fashion to the first period with stalemate and neither goalkeeper under threat until a remarkable period either side of the hour mark.

Gerard Pique wrestled Oscar Cardozo to the ground as a corner, Paraguay’s first of the night, was played in from the left. Cardozo looked set to give La Albirroja a stunning lead against the European champions only for skipper Casillas to rescue his side with a superb stop diving to his left.

Within 60 seconds Antolin Alcaraz was deemed to have bundled over Villa in the penalty area and Spain had their own chance from the penalty spot. Xabi Alonso buried his spot-kick but Spanish joy was short-lived with a retake ordered for encroachment. This time Villar dived low to his left and parried Alonso’s effort with Paraguay just scrambling the rebound to safety. It is the first time that two penalties had been missed in a FIFA World Cup match since Argentina and Mexico took the field in 1930.

Minutes later Andres Iniesta hit a curling effort that was well blocked by Villar, and it was indeed to be the Barcelona midfield genius who proved the difference in the decisive moment of the match seven minutes from full time. Budweiser Man of the Match Iniesta made a driving run from midfield teeing up Pedro, whose shot hit Villar’s right-hand post before rebounding to Villa who placed his effort against the left side of the goal with the ball eventually nestling in the net, but only after incredibly rebounding off the opposite post.

In the final minute Casillas saved his side with a double block from Santa Cruz and Barrios, while Villa was similarly denied by the impressive Villar in a lighting counter-attack.

Paraguay 0 Japan 0 (Paraguay win 5-3 on penalties)

Scorers: None

Attendance: 36742

Paraguay squeezed through to the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup™ for the first time in their history as Yuichi Komano's penalty miss sent Japan crashing out of the tournament. With the game goalless at the end of extra time in Pretoria, South Africa witnessed its first shoot-out and, after Komano had clipped the crossbar, Oscar Cardozo rolled home the winning spot-kick to give the South Americans a 5-3 win and a last-eight tie against either Spain or Portugal.

Neither side had ever reached a FIFA World Cup quarter-final, and perhaps the weight of expectation explained a largely uninspiring contest at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium. Paraguay enjoyed the majority of possession in the early stages but were struggling to find their range as much as their opponents. The game suddenly, albeit very briefly, exploded into life around the 20-minute mark when both goalkeepers were finally awoken from their slumbers. First, Paraguay's Lucas Barrios turned neatly in the penalty area to escape the attentions of two Japan defenders, before firing straight at Eiji Kawashima. Then, a minute later, Daisuke Matsui crashed a curled long-range effort against the crossbar.

Paraguay almost made their mark in the 29th minute when Roque Santa Cruz found himself unmarked in the area. The Manchester City forward looked surprised to find Claudio Morel's corner at his feet, and that moment of hesitation proved his undoing as he subsequently flashed his shot wide. Shortly after, Honda's ball into the box appeared threatening but Carlos Bonet was able to step in and steer the ball to safety. Yasuhito Endo then whipped in a free-kick at pace but Santa Cruz, now on defensive duty, was able to clear the danger with a diving header.

Minutes later, Japan broke at pace and should have done better in a promising situation, with three advancing forwards outnumbering the Paraguay defence. Matsui squared the ball to Keisuke Honda but the CSKA Moscow star chose to ignore the run of the unmarked Yoshito Okubo to his left, instead opting to try his luck from distance. Disappointingly, his left-footed drive finished wide of goalkeeper Justo Villar's post.

Takeshi Okada's side began the second half with a team huddle, aware they needed to break free of their first-half shackles if they were to make that crucial breakthrough. But it was Paraguay who fired the first statement of intent as Nestor Ortigoza did his best to change the pattern of the game but his mazy run into the box was eventually smothered by the Japanese defence. It was a rare moment of enterprise in a game that had so far failed to inspire. As Gerardo Martino's team picked up the pace, only the outstretched boot of Yuji Nakazawa prevented Edgar Benitez from finding the target, while Cristian Riveros could only plant his header into the palms of Kawashima. Marcus Tulio Tanaka was unlucky not to profit from Endo's dangerous corner or substitute Shunsuke Nakamura's knock-on, while Santa Cruz's looping header was easily beaten away as the game drifted towards extra time.

With another Japan huddle dismantled, Shinji Okazaki looped a header just over and Barrios's firm header was an easy collect for Kawashima, while Nelson Valdez's toe-poke was smothered. Edgar Barretto's hooked shot finished a yard over as both sides finally started to loosen up in the additional 30 minutes but after Okazaki went close with a header in the dying minutes, it was left to penalties to decide the seventh quarter-final place. Only one player of nine missed but victory was Paraguay's by this narrowest of margins.

Paraguay 0 New Zealand 0

Scorers: None

Attendance: 34850

Paraguay did what they had to do to top Group F with a scoreless draw with New Zealand in Polokwane on Thursday. The South Americans finished with five points, one ahead of Slovakia, who knocked out holders Italy in the group's other match, while the All Whites go out unbeaten after their third consecutive draw.

Chances were very few and far between in a contest between the naturally defensive New Zealanders and a Paraguay side who looked comfortable enough playing for the draw that would take them through. There were a few early opportunities from free-kicks, as Kiwi Chris Killen almost got to the end of a long ball to the far post and Paraguay captain Denis Caniza shot wide two minutes later, but given each side's well-organised defence, most of the action was restricted to the midfield. Caniza had the closest effort of the first period just before the half-hour mark, but his swerving shot was too high to trouble the goalkeeper.

New Zealand knew that a goal could send them through to the knockout rounds for the first time in their history, and they came out a bit more determined to go forward after half-time. The Oceanian representatives were almost rewarded in the 48th minute after some good work by Tony Lochhead down the left. The full-back's cross found Simon Elliott just outside the area, but the veteran midfielder blazed past the corner of the goal with plenty of space.

A measure of the lack of opportunities was that the first corner of the match did not come until the 62nd minute, but from that Paraguay went close to scoring. Claudio Morel took a clever short delivery, which reached the head of Cristian Riveros, but his glancing effort was saved by the quick reflexes of Mark Paston in goal. Paston proved himself the hero for New Zealand as Paraguay pushed hard for a winner as the match wore on. In the 76th minute, he dived well to save Edgar Benitez's shot, and then just got a touch at the feet of Lucas Barrios from the rebound to keep the ball out of his net. Shortly after, the big goalkeeper denied Roque Santa Cruz twice, once when he came off his line to smother at the striker's feet from a breakaway, next with a punch from a dipping shot off a free-kick.

It was still a historic finals for the All Whites, who won their first points in the FIFA World Cup, and finished the group undefeated and in front of four-time world champions Italy. Paraguay will now face the second-placed team from Group E, which will be the Netherlands, Japan or Denmark on 29 June in Pretoria.

Slovakia 0 Paraguay 2

Scorers: Vera (Par), Riveros (Par)

Attendance: 26643

Paraguay claimed their first 2010 FIFA World Cup™ victory by beating Slovakia 2-0 on Sunday in Mangaung/Bloemfontein. Top of the Group F table with four points – at least until Italy take on New Zealand later in the day – the Paraguayans got a goal in each half at the Free State Stadium through Enrique Vera and Cristian Riveros.

The South Americans controlled the contest right from the start, and they might have opened their account in the early going when Roque Santa Cruz's shot took a tricky deflection towards goal but Slovakia goalkeeper Jan Mucha was up to the task, diving well to save in the top-right corner. Riveros and Lucas Barrios then had good opportunities to confirm Paraguay's dominance. After 19 minutes Riveros had time and space for a shot from 20 yards out but his effort went straight at the keeper. Four minutes later Barrios blasted over after some fancy combination play with Vera.

Paraguay's breakthrough came after 27 minutes following a Slovakian give-away in defence. Paulo Da Silva strode forward menacingly and his pass split the defence to find Vera. With two defenders around him, the Ecuador-based midfielder finished coolly with the outside of his right boot around the despairing goalkeeper. At the other end, Slovakia's only real chance of note fell to Kornel Salata, who could not keep his free header down from a corner. Indeed Santa Cruz might have doubled the lead except for a fine save with his feet by Mucha in the 39th minute.

With only one attempt on goal in the first half, Vladimir Weiss's side came out more aggressively in the second period, but Paraguay's organised back line contained them. The Europeans very rarely even threatened to equalise, and Vera should have claimed a second goal when Santa Cruz picked him out all alone in the area in the 72nd minute, but his header bounded wide to the goalkeeper's right.

Instead it fell to Riveros to settle the encounter four minutes from time with a curling left-foot shot from the edge of the area. Slovakia will now hope to resurrect their South Africa 2010 campaign against Italy at Johannesburg's Ellis Park on Thursday, while Gerardo Martino's Paraguay take on New Zealand at the same time in Polokwane.

Italy 1 Paraguay 1

Scorers: De Rossi (Ita), Alcaraz (Par)
Attendance: 62869


Holders Italy opened their 2010 FIFA World Cup™ campaign with a 1-1 draw against Paraguay in Group F on a rainy evening at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town.

Antolin Alcaraz shocked the Gemany 2006 champions in the 39th minute to open the scoring, while Italy’s Daniel De Rossi took advantage of some unconvincing goalkeeping by veteran Justo Villar to equalise just after the hour mark. New Zealand and Slovakia play the group’s other opening match tomorrow in Rustenburg.

The two teams were well-organised in the early stages despite the difficult conditions and neither could fashion a chance of note in the opening of the match. In the 22nd minute, however, the South Americans showed they would be dangerous on the break, finding Aureliano Torres all alone on the edge of the box. But the defender failed to hit his shot cleanly and Gianluigi Buffon let it run wide as Italian supporters held their breath.

Italy threatened shortly after as young midfielder Claudio Marchisio swung in a nicely flighted corner, but Cristian Riveros was first to it, stretching smartly to clear over his own crossbar with striker Vincenzo Iaquinta lurking.

Paraguay were again quickest from a dead ball situation six minutes before the break to open the scoring. Torres sent in a lovely free-kick, and defender Alcatraz cut in front of Daniel De Rossi and rose higher than Italian captain Fabio Cannavaro to thump a header past the stranded Buffon.

At half-time the Squadra Azzurri got more bad news as Buffon retired hurt for Federico Marchetti, who won just his sixth cap between the sticks. But the four-time FIFA World Cup winners began stronger after the restart, and an unmarked Simone Pepe might have scored at the far post from Gianluca Zambrotta’s cross, but he could not connect with an ambitious overhead kick.

Pepe had another chance in the same spot just minutes later, but Villar caught it just in front of the charging Italian. However, the keeper was keft completely stranded in the 63rd minute when he came out to collect Pepe’s corner, only to miss the ball and watch helplessly as De Rossi flicked it simply into the empty net.

The momentum swung solidly in Italy’s favour after that, but Villar came up strongly for the South Americans. First, he claimed the ball well in front of Iaquinta from a similar looking corner to the one he missed, and then in the 80th minute, he held Pepe’s low shot in front of the eager Italian attack. And he continued his redemption three minutes later, as he saved to his right to claimRiccardo Montolivo’s long but skipping shot.

Italy next play New Zealand on Sunday in Nelspruit, while Paraguay take on Slovakia the same day in Mangaung/Bloemfontein.


Italy: 1. Buffon, 3. Criscito, 4. Chiellini, 5. Cannavaro, 6. De Rossi, 7. Pepe, 9. Iaquinta, 11. Gilardino, 15. Marchisio, 19. Zambrotta, 22. Montolivo
Subs Used: 10. Di Natale, 12. Marchetti, 16. Camoranesi


Paraguay: 1. Villar, 3. Morel Rodriguez, 6. Caceres, 13. Vera, 14. Da Silva, 15. Caceres, 16. Riveros Nunez, 17. Torres, 18. Valdez, 19. Barrios, 21. Alcaraz
Subs Used: 7. Cardozo, 9. Santa Cruz, 11. Santana