If Italy’s forwards don’t find the target soon, the defending champion could be eliminated

Italy forwards still can’t find target

NELSPRUIT, South Africa — Italy’s struggling forwards still can’t find the goal.

For the second consecutive game, the defending champion controlled play from start to finish, but no forward hit the target, except for Vincenzo Iaquinta’s penalty kick, in a shocking 1-1 draw with 78th-ranked New Zealand.

During Italy’s last seven games, it has scored just five goals, and only one of those was by a forward: Fabio Quagliarella in a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in a pre-World Cup friendly.

“We’re lacking quality in the scoring area,” midfielder Daniele De Rossi said Sunday. “We played the entire match in their half, but we don’t have enough to show for it.”

De Rossi scored a second-half equalizer in the Azzurri’s opening 1-1 draw with Paraguay and was man of the match against New Zealand.

“We’ve got to improve right away or we won’t even advance,” De Rossi said, looking ahead to the final Group F game against Slovakia on Thursday. “If we can’t win a game we deserve to be eliminated”

Coach Marcello Lippi reverted from a 4-2-3-1 to a more traditional 4-4-2 against New Zealand, with Alberto Gilardino and Iaquinta at forward. Like against Paraguay, Gilardino hardly made an impact and was substituted at halftime by Antonio Di Natale, who led Serie A with 29 goals for Udinese this season.

Lippi had midfielders Simone Pepe and Claudio Marchisio swap sides midway through the first half, then removed Pepe for Mauro Camoranesi to start the second half.

Are all the tactical changes confusing the Azzurri?

“I don’t know,” captain Fabio Cannavaro said. “Lippi often changes tactics during the middle of a game, so it doesn’t surprise me. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Italy produced 23 shots to New Zealand’s three and led 7-1 in shots on goal. The Azzurri struggled in the air, though, against the physical and tall All Whites.

“All of our shots were from long range. We should have kept the ball on the ground more,” said left back Domenico Criscito.

Lippi left 6-foot-4 striker Luca Toni at home, and never even considered calling up controversial but talented scorers Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli.

Italy ended with three forwards, with Giampaolo Pazzini joining Di Natale and Iaquinta, but the most dangerous scoring attempts came from midfield. New Zealand goalkeeper Mark Paston was forced to make a leaping save on a long, powerful shot by Riccardo Montolivo that could have won the game in the 70th minute.

Montolivo also hit the post in the first half.

The only forward who hasn’t played yet is Quagliarella, while Gilardino appears a safe candidate to be benched against Slovakia.

“Often I play with my back facing the goal and that penalizes me,” Gilardino said. “I’ve got to try and get deeper. We’ve got to finish better.”

Italy can console itself with the fact it also drew its opening two games in 1982, when it went on to win its third World Cup.

However, the problems with this team don’t lie purely in attack.

At 36, Cannavaro appears to have lost a step. He made a horrendous error to hand New Zealand the lead in the seventh minute following a free kick, and was also beaten to a header following a set piece against Paraguay.

“What can I say? These things happen,” Cannavaro said. “But we don’t like to put the blame on a single player.”