Italy endured a frustrating afternoon in Nelspruit as the reigning champions were held to a stunning 1-1 draw against World Cup minnows New Zealand.
The 78th-ranked All Whites took the lead after just seven minutes when Shane Smeltz pulled away from marker Fabio Cannavaro and made no mistake with a close-range finish after the Italian skipper failed to deal with a free-kick.
Vincenzo Iaquinta pulled Italy level from the penalty spot in the 29th minute after Daniele De Rossi was dragged down by Tommy Smith inside the area.
The Azzurri threw all they had at New Zealand for the rest of the game but had to settle for a point, leaving them with everything to play for in their final group F game against Slovakia on Thursday.
Lineups:
Italy: Federico Marchetti; Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro, Giorgio Chiellini, Domenico Criscito; Simone Pepe (Mauro Camoranesi, 46), Daniele De Rossi, Riccardo Montolivo, Claudio Marchisio (Giampaolo Pazzini, 61); Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alberto Gilardino (Antonio Di Natale, 46)
New Zealand: Mark Paston; Winston Reid, Ryan Nelsen, Ivan Vicelich (Jeremy Christie, 80), Tommy Smith; Rory Fallon (Chris Wood, 62), Leo Bertos, Simon Elliott, Tony Lochhead, Chris Killen (Andrew Barron, 90); Shane Smeltz
Statistics:
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The 78th-ranked All Whites took the lead after just seven minutes when Shane Smeltz pulled away from marker Fabio Cannavaro and made no mistake with a close-range finish after the Italian skipper failed to deal with a free-kick.
Vincenzo Iaquinta pulled Italy level from the penalty spot in the 29th minute after Daniele De Rossi was dragged down by Tommy Smith inside the area.
The Azzurri threw all they had at New Zealand for the rest of the game but had to settle for a point, leaving them with everything to play for in their final group F game against Slovakia on Thursday.
Lineups:
Italy: Federico Marchetti; Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro, Giorgio Chiellini, Domenico Criscito; Simone Pepe (Mauro Camoranesi, 46), Daniele De Rossi, Riccardo Montolivo, Claudio Marchisio (Giampaolo Pazzini, 61); Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alberto Gilardino (Antonio Di Natale, 46)
New Zealand: Mark Paston; Winston Reid, Ryan Nelsen, Ivan Vicelich (Jeremy Christie, 80), Tommy Smith; Rory Fallon (Chris Wood, 62), Leo Bertos, Simon Elliott, Tony Lochhead, Chris Killen (Andrew Barron, 90); Shane Smeltz
Statistics:
| Italy | New Zealand | |
| 1 | Goals | 1 |
| 7 | Shots on target | 1 |
| 11 | Shots off target | 2 |
| 15 | Corners | 0 |
| 12 | Fouls | 20 |
| 1 | Offsides | 2 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 57 | Ball possession (%) | 43 |
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