Weighing in

Yea I know I haven't been too active in these LIVE blogs, Rich has done a masterful job with that, and I am not going to say too much today either. However, I had to weigh in from the Italy/Paraguay match.

My big question is what happens to a team that can only counter attack and defend when it goes behind 1-0?

Apparently they can score on a big mistake from the Paraguayan keeper Villar, who just completely whiffed on an attempt to punch the ball on a corner allowing Daniel de Rossi to dive in and tap in the equalizer.

However, like Rich previously mentioned, this game has been fairly dull in what is clearly the weakest group. Again as Rich noted, we have been hammering the point home that Italy is not that good anymore. They don't have imaginative, creative players when 31-year-old Andrea Pirlo is absent as he is today with the calf injury - and the rumor is that Pirlo could be out for the next game as well as possibly the entire group stage.

The absence of Giuseppe de Rossi - the New Jersey American, who for some reason was not selected for the World Cup - is somewhat gaping. The forwards like Gilardino and Iaquinta that coach Marcello Lippi selected are not 1-v-1 players like de Rossi, they need service, they are garbage disposal like players that clean up crosses in the box.

Another great concern for the Italians is the fact that Gianluigi Buffon had to be subbed at half-time. Has to be some sort of injury, although he did not have much to do in the first half, so it's got to be some type of muscle issue, and Italy can hardly afford to be without perhaps the world's No. 1 keeper if they want to do anything in this tournament.

Paraguay doesn't look to great either and the fact that Roque Santa Cruz is missing is clearly a glaring problem.