Failure furthest from Italy's minds

Defending champions Italy face Slovakia in their final Group F showdown today playing for their survival as the Azzurri face the shame of a first-round exit.

With just one game left to go in the group stages and after two 1-1 draws, Italy, like Germany, England and Spain, are in danger of facing the ignominy of joining France on an early plane back home, without even making the knock-out stages. With just two points in Group F, the second-placed Italians must now beat Slovakia at Johannesburg's Ellis Park to guarantee a place in the last 16, but another draw would also see them through if Paraguay beat New Zealand.

However, it is an uncomfortably precarious position for the holders and one veteran full-back Gianluca Zambrotta says does not even bear thinking about.

"We haven't thought about it and we're not thinking about it," he said from Italy's Casa Azzurri, just south of Pretoria. If it happens we'll think about it then, it doesn't even enter our heads. We're looking at the glass half full, not half empty. It's not the first time we've had this type of game, we know the importance and we'll give it everything."

However, combative midfielder Daniele De Rossi said the Azzurri must raise their game significantly if they are to have any chance of defending their title. "We will have to improve quickly, because otherwise we won't be going far," he said following the 1-1 draw with New Zealand.

"We weren't at our best and we can do a lot better than that," said De Rossi.

"We were lacking up front. We played the entire match in their half but we don't have enough to show for it."

Italy are struggling to finish the chances they create which stems back to before the World Cup.

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