Argentina open World Cup campaign with win
Published:Monday | June 14, 2010 | 9:46 AM
Defending champions and four-time winners Italy will begin their 2010 World Cup campaign today against Paraguay in Cape Town, South Africa.
Italy once again enter a major tournament on the back of a flurry of criticism as to how good they will be.
An ageing squad, a growing list of injury problems, and their recent failure to beat either Switzerland or Mexico in their warm-up matches underline Italy\'s potential struggles.
However, Coach Marcello Lippi retains a fair level of optimism as to their chances in South Africa.
He sees his players as \"experienced and full of charisma\" rather than over the hill.
With playmaker Andrea Pirlo expected to miss the first two group games, Italy certainly lack some sparkle on paper and carving out a victory against a tough Paraguay outfit will be difficult.
They should be in great shape in terms of confidence having recorded victories over Argentina and Brazil in qualifying and are unlikely to be too daunted at the prospect of taking on the world champions straight away.
Two Group ‘E’ games are also scheduled for today. The match-ups are Netherlands against Denmark in Johannesburg at 6:30a.m. Jamaica time and Japan facing Cameroon in Bloemfontein at 9 a.m.