Soccer Advice Tips

Defending champions Italy had to come from behind to salvage a draw in their World Cup Group F opener against Paraguay in Cape Town.

Having played well in the first half at Green Point Stadium the 2006 winners were shocked when Wigan-bound defender Antolin Alcaraz rose to head home a 39th-minute free-kick.

Italy's blushes were spared to some extent, however, as Daniele De Rossi slid in to punish a mistake by Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar after 63 minutes and take a point from the match.

As expected, Italy coach Marcello Lippi had left Serie A's top goalscorer Antonio Di Natale on the bench, instead selecting Alberto Gilardino with Vincenzo Iaquinta out wide.

Gerardo Martino also opted to leave out his two highest-profile forwards in Benfica's Oscar Cardozo and Manchester City man Roque Santa Cruz. Instead, Borussia Dortmund team-mates Lucas Barrios and Nelson Valdez were deployed in attack.

Claudio Morel had to be alert to stop Simone Pepe pouncing on a dangerous ball at the back post in the sixth minute as Italy set the early pace.

Their passing and movement was delightful, with Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio central to much of it.

Paraguay did exert some form of pressure midway through the half with two corners, before Riccardo Montolivo broke forward for Italy but could only hit a meek shot at Villar.

In the 22nd minute Aureliano Torres mis-hit a shot which only just bobbled wide of Gianluigi Buffon's goal.

Italy were stunned six minutes before the break when Paraguay went in front from a set-piece.

Torres' launched free-kick from deep was perfectly flighted and with Fabio Cannavaro and De Rossi flailing, Alcaraz headed past Buffon.

Buffon was surprisingly substituted at the break, replaced by Cagliari goalkeeper Federico Marchetti having reportedly suffered a back injury.

Enrique Vera had two sighters for Paraguay while Pepe missed with a spectacular bicycle kick attempt and Montolivo's weak shot was easily saved.

Martino sent on midfielder Jonathan Santana for Torres while Lippi sacrificed Marchisio for Mauro Camoranesi to go 4-4-2 shortly before the hour mark.

Victor Caceres was booked for a late slide on Montolivo before Italy finally made the pressure tell to go level.

Villar horribly missed Pepe's corner from the left, allowing a delighted De Rossi to simply stab the ball home and wheel away in delight.

Italy had a penalty shout denied by Mexican Benito Archundia when Montolivo went down under a robust shoulder challenge from Paulo Da Silva before, at the other end, Barrios found Santana who dragged his shot off target.

Santa Cruz was given his chance in the 68th minute when he came on for Valdez before Camoranesi was booked for a foul on Vera.

Di Natale finally got his opportunity in the 72nd minute when he replaced Gilardino while Cardozo also had a taste when he came on for Barrios.

Good work from Di Natale set up Udinese team-mate Pepe for a half-decent shot while, at the opposite end, Cannavaro blocked a Santa Cruz header.

Montolivo did threaten with an 83rd minute long-range effort which brought out the best in Villar, who sprawled low to his right to save, but Italy were unable to complete the turnaround by snatching a winner.

Keisuke Honda enjoyed a belated birthday celebration as Japan regained that winning mentality.

The CSKA Moscow attacker, 24 yesterday, got the all-important goal after 39 minutes of the Group E match at the Free State Stadium.

It meant a long-awaited victory for coach Takeshi Okada, who had seen his side lose four and draw one of their warm-up matches, scoring only one goal in the process.

He had claimed before the game, however, he was not worried about Japan's poor form going into the competition.

While Okada opted for a lone striker in Yoshito Okubo, his Cameroon counterpart Paul Le Guen decided on an adventurous 4-3-3 formation.

Despite being one of Africa's brightest hopes Cameroon were toothless, despite having a great deal of possession, although goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima made a breathtaking save from substitute Mohamadou Idrissou in stoppage time.

Much was expected of skipper Samuel Eto'o but the Inter Milan striker was left frustrated as Japan defended in numbers.

Le Guen saw his side carve out the first opening of the game in the eighth minute when Eto'o released Pierre Webo.

He raced to the byline and played the ball into the middle but Eyong Enoh was unable to get a decent touch.

Kawashima then made a good block from Enoh's close range effort before Japan made the breakthrough.

The Cameroon defence failed to cut out Daisuke Matsui's cross to the back post and Honda reacted quickly. He got a superb first touch before clipping the ball beyond a stranded Souleymanou Hamidou.

It was just what Japan wanted and they had also kept Eto'o quiet in the first half.

Cameroon came out with a purpose at the start of the second half and should have equalised in the 49th minute.

Eto'o got the better of two players in a determined run. He played the ball into the path of Eric Choupo-Moting who was clear in front of goal.

However the striker failed to test Kawashima, his effort going wide of the post to Japan's relief.

Cameroon were enjoying a decent spell and Choupo-Moting cut inside only to drag his shot off target.

However Japan almost added a second goal in the 82nd minute when they launched a swift counter-attack.

Makoto Hasebe's shot was parried by the goalkeeper but only landed at the feet of substitute Shinji Ozakaki, who saw the rebound come off the outside of the left post.

Cameroon responded and three minutes later Stephane Mbia's instinctive effort rattled the bar.

With the crowd urging them, Cameroon kept pushing players forward in search of the equaliser but Japan stood firm.

However they had to rely on Kawashima right at the end to give them the victory they had craved.

The Kawasaki Frontale shot-stopper has only recently taken the jersey and it was easy to understand why as Cameroon were left frustrated.

Former Lyon, Rangers and Paris St Germain boss Le Guen was hoping Cameroon would make it through to the quarter-finals, but this opening defeat makes that looks an outside bet at the moment, with group rivals Holland also chalking up a victory earlier in the day.

Holland 2 Agger (og) 46, Kuyt 85 
Denmark 0

Whisper it softly, but though Holland got off to a winning start in Group E their performance was not that much better than England's. The Dutch fans must be hoping their team are slow starters too.

Holland did not concede a comedy goal like England, but they mostly owed their victory to farcical generosity from the Denmark defence, who donated a needless own goal just as they were gaining the upper hand. Robin van Persie's cross at the beginning of the second half was met with a poor clearance from Simon Poulsen, whose header back across goal was deflected past Thomas Sorensen by an unwitting Daniel Agger.

Both Van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner were quiet, but if that assist put the former ahead in the contest between Arsenal strikers he passed up a glorious opportunity to put his side further ahead a few minutes later; a shocking first touch to Dirk Kuyt's defence-opening pass showing Sorensen far too much of the ball.

The Dutch only really improved in the last 20 minutes following the introduction of Eljero Elia, who plays with Shaun Wright-Phillips's speed, directness and deceptive ability to ride tackles, but comes with an end product as well. The winger made far more inroads down the left than the disappointing Rafael van der Vaart had managed, and it was no surprise when he was involved in the second goal. Running on to an astute pass into the box, his shot was touched on to the far post by Sorensen for Kuyt to tap in the rebound.

The highlight of a pedestrian first half was a decent effort by Thomas Kahlenberg after 37 minutes, forcing Maarten Stekelenburg to push his rising drive round a post after good work by Bendtner had given him a shooting opportunity. If that does not sound like much of a highlight, it was not much of a first half. The World Cup is still waiting for the game that gets everyone talking and applies lighted match to touch-paper, and this certainly was not the fixture. Holland looked sharper and more purposeful early on, though all that amounted to was a couple of chances for Van der Vaart which he was not quite sharp enough to accept.

Gradually Denmark played their way into the game, gratefully realising that Holland were not pinning them back and getting forward so well that by half-time they had just about the best chances. Dennis Rommedahl brought a good save from Stekelenburg just after the half-hour, though he sent his firm shot straight at the goalkeeper, and Bendtner headed narrowly wide when a Rommedahl cross unexpectedly reached him at the far post.

All this promise went to waste through the own goal, and the Dutch were comfortable at the end, with Wesley Sneijder – the official man of the match – hitting the bar just before Kuyt's goal.

Ledley King has been effectively ruled out of the rest of the World Cup after picking up a groin injury against the United States on Saturday.

Injury problem: Ledley King has been effectively ruled out of the rest of the World Cup after picking up a groin injury against the United States on Saturday

The Tottenham centre-back was withdrawn at half-time after feeling “tightness” in his groin and it was hoped that he would only miss this Friday’s Group C tie against Algeria.

However, the England medical staff fear the injury is worse than originally thought — he has damaged an adductor muscle — and the diagnosis is now two to three weeks out. In theory, King could return for a quarter-final tie, but it is unlikely that he would be considered for selection.

The injury, following the loss of Rio Ferdinand, is a serious blow and calls into question Fabio Capello’s gamble in taking King, who has struggled with a chronic knee problem, to the tournament. He will now miss the rest of the group stages at least.

It was one of several gambles the England manager took against the US that backfired. His decision to play James Milner — who had been suffering from a virus — also proved to be a mistake, with the midfielder substituted in the first half after a torrid 30 minutes.

“He hadn’t trained for a couple of days so he probably wasn’t at his sharpest,” admitted John Terry afterwards. “I’m not too sure how fit he was.”

The England manager had been desperate to include Milner on the left, and he was declared fit by team doctor Ian Beasley.

The player himself said he was ready to play after completing training on Friday, but later it was privately conceded that the 23 year-old had simply not been well enough.

Capello claimed that Milner was withdrawn because he had already collected a booking, but it was the after-effects of the virus that led to his departure.

Terry said: “We had a lot of problems with the goal and Milner and King going off early, and we have to tell ourselves that’s our bad luck out of the way, otherwise we’d sit here and beat ourselves up about it. The manager’s plans have gone out of the window a little bit.”

Capello will bring Gareth Barry into his side in midfield against the Algerians and must decide who partners Terry in the centre of defence.

There will also be a discussion over whether England should opt for a change of formation or simply move Steven Gerrard — who again failed to gel with Frank Lampard — back across to the left. There will undoubtedly be calls for Joe Cole’s inclusion.

Jamie Carragher, who replaced King at half-time, said: “If you don’t play well continuously you will come unstuck. But it’s not as if it was a disastrous. I think it was decent performance.”

His view was echoed by Glen Johnson, who said of Capello after the match: “He was calm. He said he was happy. He would have preferred to win but it wasn’t to be.

“It’s ridiculous to think we’re in crisis. The spirit’s still good. The boys will stick together through anything. That’s behind us, we didn’t lose the game and we go into the next one.”

Shaun Wright-Phillips, who replaced Milner in the first half, agreed. “Fabio is just like us, he knows we played well and were just unlucky,” he said.

“We’re only going to get better, and it might end up being a good result. All we can do is go on and beat Algeria. It’s important that we win all of our remaining games.”

One of England’s most disappointing performers was Lampard, who endorsed the view that it was “crucial” to beat the Algerians in Cape Town.

“To win against the US would have put us in the driving seat, but we have to believe in ourselves,” he said. “It was the first game. First games are notoriously cagey and we were just unlucky with the goal.”