Group F preview

Italy
Ah, the Italians. Winners on four occasions and current champions. Now back under the tutelage of Marcello Lippi after the moribund spell of former Milan midfielder Roberto Donadoni, the Azzurri are very much a side in transition as a generation of superstars creaks towards retirement. Those coming through are a mixed bag, but the dominant force of Serie A of recent years, Internazionale, provide few bodies.

Qualifying proved relatively routine - undefeated in ten games including two draws with an Irish side who also finished unbeaten but missed out due to a cheating Frenchman, and they should progress from their group here without struggle but also without setting too many pulses racing.

An experienced starting eleven with a smattering of newbie talent - left-back Criscito and midfielders Marchisio and Montelivio, but surprisingly not Candreva or Rossi, both left out, will mean they're as tough to beat as ever. Expect a 4-2-3-1 with one lumbering forward.

Paraguay
Almost certainly the only squad at the finals missing a key player due to him being shot in the face, Paraguay are well capable of providing a shock or two. A hard-working and organised unit, they're surprisingly unreliant on their two biggest names - oft-injured Manchester City forward Roque Santa Cruz, and 38-goal Oscar Cardozo of Benfica.

Stubborn at the back and well-drilled, La Albirroja will make use of the counter attack and full-backs who know when to push on. Finished above Argentina and Uruguay in qualifying and their current side is widely considered to be their strongest to date. Should get through to meet Spain in the second round to equal their best ever World Cup performance.

New Zealand
Expected to be the whipping boys of the group, the All Whites will be desperate to pick up their first Finals point after losing all three games heavily during their only other appearance, Spain '82. The biggest winners from Australia's continent switch, Ricki Herbert's side had to only see off giants such as Vanuata and Fiji before edging Bahrain in a play-off.

Ryan Nelsen is the standout name in their squad, and now captain of Blackburn Rovers. A canny signing by former boss Mark Hughes, he's now played almost two-hundred times for the Ewood Park side. Left-back Tommy Smith has recently been on loan at Brentford from Ipswich Town, Simon Elliott had an injury-hit couple of years at Fulham, Leo Bertos has turned out for Barnsley (where Jeremy Christie also started out) and Rochdale amongst others, Michael McGlinchey came through the ranks at Celtic, Dave Mulligan spent several years roaming around League One, Shane Smeltz enjoyed a prolific 05/06 campaign in the Isthmian League with AFC Wimbleson, goalkeeper Mark Paston has been at Bradford and Walsall, backup James Bannatyne had one season at Yeading, and strikers Chris Wood, Rory Fallon and Chris Killen are at West Brom, Plymouth and Middlesbrough, respectively. Centre-half Winston Reid - five seasons with FC Midtjylland, and fellow defender Ivan Vicelich - a similar spell at Roda JC, represent their only other real experience in major leagues.

I'm not entirely sure what to expect from the Kiwis. Their coach is said to be a bit of a tinkerman, but Reid and Nelsen should provide a solid base at the back, and he generally finds a way of including all three of his main strikers. They won't beat Italy, and almost certainly won't qualify from the group, but picking up a point against Slovakia or Paraguay would be a historic achievement in itself.

Slovakia
It's perhaps surprising that the Slovaks have rarely featured amongst those sides predicted to be dark horses of this tournament. Vlad Weiss Snr's side stormed their qualifying group, finishing ahead of an admittedly-ageing Czech Republic as well as Poland and Slovenia, picking up maximum points in both Prague and Chorzow.

Though still somewhat of a rough diamond and completely untested at this level, the coach has brought through a new generation of exciting players, led by Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik. Miroslav Stoch and Vladimir Weiss Jnr, of Chelsea and Manchester City but both yet to really make the breakthrough, will also provide trickery from the flanks. Martin Skrtel is another familiar name, marshalling a back line that's generally solid. Strikers Sestak and Vittek are wily customers but not generally prolific.

A potentially troublesome side whose hopes will quite probably depend on them taking maximum points from their opening game. Do that and they've an outside chance of making the last eight. Fail to do so and they might just miss out.

Prediction
The Italians to bore their way into the second round. Paraguay to edge an up-and-coming but naive Slovakia for second place.

Leo Torricelli