NELSPRUIT: World champions Italy suffered an embarrassing 1-1 draw with underdogs New Zealand in their second World Cup Group F match on Sunday, a result which complicates their chances of progressing to the knockout stage.New Zealand, ranked 78th in the world, took a shock lead on seven minutes after struggling Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro made a hash of trying to clear a free kick into the box and Shane Smeltz poked home.It was New Zealand’s only shot on goal the entire match.Italy had talked all week about the difficulties an unchanged New Zealand would pose from dead balls but they did not deal with the danger even if there was a slight suspicion of offside.Coach Marcello Lippi stationed himself at the edge of his technical area with a worried look and his team increased the tempo with Riccardo Montolivo striking the post from distance before they levelled on 29 minutes.Daniele De Rossi tumbled in the box under pressure from Tommy Smith as a cross came over and Vincenzo Iaquinta calmly slotted in the debateable spotkick.Iaquinta appeared to celebrate as if he were blowing a vuvuzela, the plastic trumpets that have become a symbol of this World Cup.At the final whistle, however, the celebration was located in one corner of the Mbombela Stadium, where a small section of New Zealand fans marked their country’s historic result by taking off their shirts and waving them around deliriously.“I’m very very proud,” coach Ricki Herbert said. “We knew we’d be up against it, but we had great resilience and stayed organised.”“It’s fantastic,” Herbert added. “We feel we’re deserving and the nation is going with us to Round 3 (of the opening group games).”On a bright day in northeastern South Africa, where the giraffe-shaped stadium roof supports in Nelspruit glistened in the sun, Italy controlled virtually throughout the match, but New Zealand nearly won when substitute Chris Wood sent an angled shot just wide in the 83rd.Italy, who wore black armbands following the death of 1968 European Championship winner Roberto Rosato, meet Slovakia in their final group game on Thursday at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park needing a handsome win to definitely progress.Paraguay, New Zealand’s next opponents on Thursday, beat Slovakia 2-0 earlier to top the group with four points while Italy and New Zealand have two.

RUSTENBURG: A stoppage time equaliser by defender Winston Reid saw New Zealand claim the first World Cup point in their history with a 1-1 draw with Slovakia on Tuesday.The All Whites, who lost all three matches in their only other finals appearance in 1982, looked destined for defeat after Robert Vittek had headed Slovakia into a 50th-minute lead in the Group F match.But three minutes into injury time, Reid popped up at the back post to head Shane Smeltz's cross in off the post to deny Slovakia victory in their first World Cup match as an independent nation.It was no more than New Zealand deserved from a scrappy encounter in which Slovakia did little that will worry group rivals Italy or Paraguay, who also drew 1-1 when they met on Monday.With Slovakia struggling to get their passing game going in cold, windy conditions, it was the All Whites who had the better of the chances with both Chris Killen and Smeltz (twice) failing to take good chances before Reid found the net.Middlesbrough's Killen needed only five minutes to underline the threat he poses in the air, outjumping both centrebacks to meet Simon Elliott's inswinging free-kick with a header that was directed straight at Slovakia's goalkeeper Jan Mucha.Twenty minutes had elapsed before Slovakia produced a moment of menace, captain Marek Hamsik curling a shot beyond the far post.Gradually they began to assert themselves and, after being played into the box by the lively Vladimir Weiss, Stanislav Sestak toe-poked a shot inches wide of Mark Paston's left-hand upright.Paston, who had already flapped hesitantly at one cross, was fortunate to escape unpunished after completely missing the ball as he attempted to punt the ball clear from the left edge of his box.Vittek then sent a long range effort wide before New Zealand's best chance of the opening period fell to Smeltz. The forward's strike from a tight angle was cleanly struck but Mucha's touch was enough to deflect it into the side netting.Hamsik's dipping shot had to palmed over by Paston just before half-time and, five minutes after the restart, the Slovakians broke the deadlock.Allowed time on the right, Sestak whipped in a cross and Vittek, who may have been fractionally offside, got away from Reid to send a header beyond Paston and into the bottom corner.Vittek should have made it two at the end of a sweeping counterattack with 20 minutes left, only to be frustrated by Reid's full-stretch block.With three minutes left, Smeltz got above Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel only to steer his header wide. New Zealand's last chance looked to have gone but Reid had other ideas.