Soccer SuperFans

By: Jon Di Mauro, Toronto

A slow start.

Italy is not the team they will be by the end of this tournament on Monday.

They were by far and large a team on the blend. A lot of the build up play was beautiful...and a lot of it was slow and miscalculated.

As with a whole host of the other great nations in this tournament, Italy will need time to gel.

There were some positives to take from this match however. Italy controlled the overall play during this match for long periods, reducing Paraguay to playing predominately counter attacking football. However as has been all too well documented in the past, it's the final score that counts.

From here, Italy will develop into a stronger outfit, with players recovering from injury and others being played more and in different positions. We will wait in anticipation for the next match counting down the minutes. I for one maintain confidence in Marcello Lippi and see where he is trying to go with this squad.

Aww who am I kidding anyway, I'm Italian! Is there any other way!

FORZA AZZURRI!