Easily the most exciting game of the tournament, fans from around the world were treated to a nail biting finish, which ended 3-2 in favor of Slovakia. With this defeat, the current world champions have been eliminated from the world cup.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi said “I take full responsibility. If the squad went out with fear in their legs and hearts it means the coach didn’t prepare the match well tactically or psychologically.”

The first half was an evenly contested game with both teams playing a hard game. Slovakia managed to score through Robert Vittek in the 24th minute and ended the first half with a 1-0 lead.

Coach Marcello Lippi was clearly disappointed with his team’s performance during the first half and must have had a serious talk with the Azzurri’s during the half time interval. They came out and played an attacking game in the second half and put the Slovakian defense to the test.

However, in the 67th minute, Vittek scored again for Slovakia and with a 2-0 scoreline, it looked like it was all over for the Italians. With less than 20 minutes to the finish, Italy decided to wake up from their slumber and show the Slovakian defense what they were really capable of doing.

Di Natale scored for Italy in the 80th minute and made the score 2-1. A few minutes later he scored again but the linesman called offside and the score remained 2-1. To make things worse for the Italians, Kopunek scored for Slovakia in the 89th minute and with a 3-1 scoreline, it looked to be all over for the Italians.

With a few minutes of extra time being added on, the Italians scored their second goal in the 91st minute through Quagliarella and made the score 3-2. With time running out, they tried their best to equalize but it was a little too late. The game ended at 3-2 and Slovakia were over the moon, as they now qualify for the round of 16 along with Paraguay.

Italy’s regular goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon who was injured in their first match was visibly disappointed. “We were a disappointment and everyone saw it. The difference between 2006 and 2010 is that there are no longer enough players like (Francesco) Totti and Alessandro (Del Piero). He (Prandelli) will have to start a new cycle and I hope he’s got his ideas in order, because the current situation of Italian football isn’t great.”