14 June,2010 07:39 AM IST | | Agencies
Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro admitted the defence needed to be at its best to keep out Paraguay in their campaign opener tonight. "Defence is vital, but that doesn't mean we'll stay in our own half of the pitch," said the 36-year-old. "It means being compact. We'll never play an attacking game like Brazil, Portugal or Spain but they'll never be able to defend like us."
Paraguay look to be in great shape, having beaten Brazil and Argentina in qualifying. They can no longer be considered minnows, having reached their fourth straight finals, and their Argentinian coach Gerardo Martino is confident his front line can deliver the goals to beat Italy.
"Now there is so much variety in the attack. In the past it has been attacking, but not like now - alongside Haedo (Valdez) and Santa Cruz there is Oscar Cardozo and Lucas Barrios. This is a team that is more complete than Paraguay teams of the past."
