World Cup: Italy vs. Ukraine

The second game on Friday features a depleted Italy squad against a goal-challenged Ukraine side in what is easily the least anticipated quarterfinal of the 2006 World Cup, unless you are an Italian or Ukranian fan.

The Azzurri enter this game unusually shorthanded in defense. Central defender Alessandro Nesta will miss his second consecutive game with an injury, and his backup Marco Materazzi will also be absent due to suspension for his red card in their previous win. Ukraine are also down a man, with striker Andriy Voronin set to miss the rest of the World Cup with an injury.

Despite the loss of manpower for both teams, though, I would be shocked if it turned out to be anything but an efficient Italian victory.

Italy has conceded exactly one goal in this tournament, and that they scored on themselves. Even down a man for almost the entire second half in their Round of 16 game against Australia, Italy was never seriously threatened in defense. And that streak should remain intact.

Ukraine are beneficiaries of a weak group coupled with a weak draw. After being humiliated in their opener against Spain, where they lost 4-0, they bounced back with a resounding 4-0 victory against possibly the weakest team in the World Cup (Saudi Arabia) before eking past Tunisia 1-0 on a controversial penalty.

Ukraine continued to enjoy favorable opposition, as they went up against an equally offensively-challenged Switzerland team in the Round of 16. After 120 minutes of a lifeless, scoreless stalemate, Ukraine eventually won out on penalties. The Swiss could not even convert from the spot on any of their three attempts!

If there is one reason to believe Ukraine could trouble Italy, it is that Andriy Shevchenko will be taking the field for the men in yellow. He is one of the best strikers in the world, and sometimes one moment of brilliance is enough to lift a team, i.e. Maxi Rodriguez in the 98th minute against Mexico.

Italy though boasts too much power for Ukraine to deal with. They are wildly talented all over the field, but will probably play in a manner that will infuriate soccer fans everywhere, falling back on their cantenaccio ways that preach a tight defense and opportunistic counter-attacking. I anticipate a pretty dull game with Italy squeezing through by 1-0 margin, but it should set up a great semifinal against the winner of the Germany/Argentina game.