Paraguay 0-0 New Zealand: Lacklustre Draw Sends Paraguay Through

In a group where all four teams could still qualify, one of which was Italy, the pressure was really on both teams. Paraguay just needed a draw and bought Caniza, Caceres and Cardozo into the team after a win over Slovakia. New Zealand were unchanged from a draw with Italy and needed a win if they were going to cause a shock and qualify.

As the first half got underway it became clear New Zealand were happy to sit back rather than pushing for the goal they needed to qualify. The All Whites (wearing black for this game) employed a similar tactic to Greece against Argentina, a tactic which eventually failed. This could have been a sign of things to come as Paraguay pushed forward, but they failed to create any decent chances.

The first good chance fell to Paraguay captain Denis Caniza who sliced his 20 yard shot wide after some good work from Santa Cruz. Caniza had another go from long range soon after but his effort from 30 yards didn’t dip enough and landed on roof of the net. New Zealand still sat back and Paraguay just couldn’t get in behind the defence. A long range shot from Santa Cruz which flew over the bar summed up the first half as both teams failed to create a meaningful shot and they went in at half time deadlocked at 0-0.

New Zealand created what seemed like their first chance of the game shortly after the break but Simon Elliot’s off balance shot went a couple of yards wide of the goal. In the 57th minute of the game there was a big blow for New Zealand as Ryan Nelsen picked up his second yellow card of the tournament ruling him out of the next game should New Zealand make it through. A Paraguay corner threatened with three shots in the middle of a goalmouth scramble but New Zealand still held firm.

With 25 minutes to go Paraguay tried to change the game by bringing off strikers Cardozo, who has just returned from injury, and Valdez, who looked to have picked up a knock, and bought on Benitez and Barrios. Barrios nearly made an instant impact but blasted a shot wide. New Zealand were starting to look tired and it felt like a Paraguay goal could be imminent, or at least it could be if Paraguay improved on their lacklustre performance so far.

Paraguay had their best chance of the game with 14 minutes to go as Benitez cut inside the box and saw his shot well saved by Paston. The newly-naturalised striker couldn’t make a clean contact with the rebound. Just 2 minutes later Santa Cruz nearly got the first goal of the game as he latched onto a through ball but Tommy Smith put him under pressure and Paston came out well to push it away. Santa Cruz had another chance shortly after as he managed to get a free kick on target but it was too close to Paston who pushed it into touch.

New Zealand had a great chance to grab a winner in the 87th minute as hero from the Italy game Shane Smeltz whipped in a cross, but Wood moved too early and was caught offside. New Zealand kept pushing through stoppage time but they couldn’t get a winner and a 0-0 draw wasn’t enough to send the All Whites through.

Despite a poor performance Paraguay are through to the knockout stage, and after a shock win for Slovakia over Italy, the South Americans progress as group winners. Paraguay now face a 2nd round game against either Japan or Denmark. New Zealand have done their country proud with 3 draws but there will be a feeling of ‘what if?’ for them as they are eliminated despite not losing a game.

Group F, New Zealand, Paraguay, World Cup 2010