On paper, Paraguay have just secured their qualification to the last 16 with this rather one sided victory over the hapless Slovakia in the sparsely filled Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein who is also, on paper, edging ever closer to an early flight home. Why on paper? It is because although there is still one match to go in Group F, Paraguay's next match will be against minnows New Zealand while Slovakia's next match will be against the defending champions Italy. Again, while these matches are seemingly to have been concluded on paper, football matches are not won on paper and there could still be more surprises in store for all of us on the last match-day of Group F. To be frank, this match was devoid of all the drama, the goal flood, the excitement that have been evident in the past few days. To emphasize on the lack of exciting points to take note of, this match was even devoid of any debates to be raised pertaining to the much maligned Jabulani match ball.
From the onset, this match was thoroughly dominated by Paraguay to prove the gulf of class between the Eastern European side and the Latin American flavor brought all the way from South America to this match. It seems that the reason why Slovakia looked half decent in the match against New Zealand (at least before the last minute Kiwi goal) was because of the fact that their opponents were the All Whites, that's all. The dominance shown in ust 27 minutes when Paraguay took the lead through H. Vera with a nice shot lobbed into the net when he was closed down by two Slovakian defenders. Even though just like any teams in this World Cup that is a goal down, Slovakia started to show some sense of urgency and started to attack Paraguay but none of those attacks was incisive and their attacking spells were only up to the end of the first half.
The second half started when the commentator reminded us that the stadium floodlights were switched on despite the fact that the sky was very bright. I am not sure myself on what's the deal with the switched on floodlights. Was it to dispel any myths about Africa being short on uninterrupted electrical supply? Or was it simply the standard operating procedure? Or was it perhaps because of a precautionary measure in anticipation of an unpredictable weather in this era of Global Warming? Who knows?
What's interesting about the way the Paraguayans play is that when the Slovaks were in possession, the Paraguay players simply closed them down no matter where they are and even the Slovak goalkeeper was not spared as we were able to see a Tevez like closing down on the Slovak goalkeeper Mucha. Basically, the Slovaks were not allowed to be with the ball for more than 2-3 seconds at most before being dispossessed by the extremely strong Paraguayan players as this style of play, especially throughout the match as this style requires a very strong stamina.
In a game devoid of any notable points, Paraguay finally managed to have something to take note of as they scored the second and arguably the proverbial killer goal at the 85th minute which put the result of the game beyond doubt. Although Slovakia managed to test the Paraguayan goalkeeper for the first and only time in the match in the very last minute of the stoppage time when Robert Vittek had his long range shot saved.
As mentioned at the beginning in the first paragraph, Paraguay will face New Zealand next which they are expected to defeat to secure their spot in the last 16, while Slovakia will be facing a very tough test against Italy, still a top team despite being much criticized for their average age and great players criminally excluded from the squad. However, don't think Group F has been settled, as I am pretty damn sure that there will be more surprises, starting from the upcoming match between Italy and New Zealand.
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