Italy held by plucky Paraguay

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP):

Italy opened the defence of their World Cup title with a laborious 1-1 draw against Paraguay yesterday.

Paraguay took advantage of their first shot on goal to take the lead in the 39th minute. Antolin Alcaraz outjumped 36-year-old Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro and Daniele De Rossi for a header, following a free kick from Aureliano Torres, and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon had no chance for a save.

De Rossi made up for the opening goal by equalising in the 63rd minute, sliding in to redirect a corner kick from Simone Pepe. It was a solid start for the AS Roma midfielder, who was suspended for four games during Italy's victorious 2006 run after bloodying the face of United States forward Brian McBride with a sharp elbow.

"We deserved to win," De Rossi said. "We controlled the ball virtually the entire time, but it's not easy against these teams that dream simply of drawing with the world champions. And if you fall behind, it becomes even tougher."

Italy coach Marcello Lippi said the biggest regret "was the result".

"They only approached the goal once and they scored," Lippi said. "We reacted well but you've got to win games like these."

Already without injured mid-fielder Andrea Pirlo, Italy's fortunes took another hit when they lost perhaps their most valuable player - Buffon - after the first half. The 32-year-old goalkeeper was removed in favour of inexperienced backup Federico Marchetti.

Lippi's side did little to disprove the critics who have labelled the squad as too old to win the title again, with nine players over 30. The Azzurri have not won since beating Sweden 1-0 in a friendly in November, drawing with Cameroon and Switzerland and losing 2-1 to Mexico in their World Cup warm-ups.

Paraguay, which managed upset wins over Brazil and Argentina in qualifying, were considered Italy's toughest opponent in the group.

"We were very organised and we defended well in the second half. It's a good result for us against an opponent like this," Paraguay's Argentine coach, Gerardo Martino, said.

Line-ups

Italy: Gianluigi Buffon (Federico Marchetti, 46), Gianluca Zambrotta, Giorgio Chiellini, Fabio Cannavaro, Domenico Criscito, Daniele De Rossi, Riccardo Montolivo, Claudio Marchisio (Mauro Camoranesi, 59), Simone Pepe, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alberto Gilardino (Antonio Di Natale, 72).

Paraguay: Justo Villar, Claudio Morel, Paulo Da Silva, Aureliano Torres (Jonathan Santana, 60), Antolin Alcaraz, Carlos Bonet, Enrique Vera, Victor Caceres, Cristian Riveros, Nelson Valdez (Roque Santa Cruz, 68), Lucas Barrios (Oscar Cardozo, 76).