
Slovakia 3 - 2 Italy
Paraguay 0 - 0 New Zealand
Denmark 1 - 3 Japan
Cameroon 1 - 2 Netherlands
It seems implausible, impossible, completely unimaginable, but the Azzuri have left the pitch for the last time in this South African World Cup, after being eliminated by Slovakia. The final score denotes a struggle, but the only fight to be seen really was a bizarre kerfuffle inside the Slovakian goalbox.
To call Italy's performance toothless isn't enough, it was headless. And it was painful to watch them struggle without a Francesco Totti or Alessandro Del Piero in the mix to see things through. Someone needed to be there to spearhead plays but there were no playmakers present on Lippi's roster. Although, I don't think anything negative can be said of Di Natale's awesome performance. He and Fabio Quagliarella made a lethal pair, perhaps Lippi should have made more use of them together from the start.

I don't know what I'll do without the swagger, grit, beauty, style and yes, even the theatrics of Italy to look forward to in the tournament, but that said, this is a tournament. If only someone could explain why Lippi's team didn't treat it that way until the final 20 minutes of a live or die game.

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