“Humilated and Pathetic” was the headline on Gazzetta dello Sport when the French took their leave of the World Cup but, in truth, the world champions have not done much better with Fabio Cannavaro, the man who lifted the World Cup in Berlin four years ago, the main target for criticism for the way he allowed New Zealand to take the lead. Marcello Lippi will make changes in a game that he has to win. Andrea Pirlo, who has been on the sidelines since the Azzurri arrived in South Africa, will return from a calf injury, while the tigerish qualities of Gennaro Gattuso, badly missed against New Zealand, will be unleashed.

The only consolation for Italy is that Slovakia appear in an even worse mental state with their manager, Vladimir Weiss, having refreshed the squad with younger player to face Paraguay, seeming to have no cards left to play. He admitted morale had not recovered from conceding a last-minute equaliser to New Zealand in the opening match in Rustenburg. “We have paid a high price for our mistakes while failing to punish opponents for theirs,” was how Weiss reacted to the 2-0 defeat by Paraguay. In qualification, Slovakia had the highest shots to goals ratio of any team but against Paraguay they had 51 per cent of possession and managed one shot.

When mounting a passionate defence of Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta said not only that he wished he were in his captain’s shape when he was 37 but added that Italy were following a traditional pattern in World Cups. “We never start as favourites and we never begin well.” The 1982 campaign, when they started with three draws and finished up as world champions, is the case most obviously in point. Assuming Paraguay beat New Zealand, Lippi’s men could go through with a third draw but nobody will be convinced this is a part of a masterplan. Verdict: Italy to win.