POLOKWANE, South Africa - Reigning champions Italy crashed out of the World Cup on Thursday, losing 3-2 to Slovakia, who reached the last 16 along with Paraguay who drew 0-0 with Group F rivals New Zealand.
Robert Vittek was Slovakia's hero with two goals before Kamil Kopunek's clincher against a poor Italian side which finished bottom of the group and for whom Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella netted consolation strikes.
Paraguay topped the group after their stalemate with New Zealand left them on five points to four points for the Slovaks, who are appearing in their first finals as a separate country.
Italy's demise - and the added humiliation of finishing bottom of the group - was the first time since 2002 that the World Cup holders failed to get through the group stage.
In a dramatic match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Vittek's first goal came when he ran on to Juraj Kucka's pass and rifled the ball home hard and low from the edge of the box after 25 minutes.
The Slovak striker pounced again in the 73rd minute, knocking in a cross.
Slovak defender Martin Skrtel stopped a shot on the line but some of the Italian players argued the ball had crossed the line.
Di Natale pulled Italy back into the match nine minutes before the end and, in a frantic finish, Quagliarella had the ball in the net from close range but it was disallowed for offside.
Kamil Kopunek lobbed Italian goalkeeper Federico Marchetti five minutes before the final whistle to make it 3-1, but Quagliarella's long-range shot gave Italy hope before the Slovaks were sent into wild celebrations at the end.
Paraguay's coach Gerardo Martino was pleased to get through to the second round but unhappy with his side's performance.
"We played very badly in the first half and we played better in the second half," he said after the match.
"I'm pleased with the qualification but not with the way we played. We had a lot of problems in an area where we didn't expect and that was in attack."
Striker Roque Santa Cruz agreed the game had been poor.
"We are very happy to have qualified but it was a very difficult game," he said. "The game got boring because they were so defensive. In a game like this you expect to win but the important thing is we qualified."
New Zealand, who had also held Slovakia and Italy, came into the tournament considered to be one of the weakest teams, and coach Ricki Herbert was thrilled the side had remained unbeaten.
"I think I need to pinch myself," he said. "If you are going to exit the World Cup there are good ways of doing it.
"A lot of people thought we shouldn't be here and that we had amateurs who were not up to it. But I think that's dead and buried now," he said, reserving special praise for keeper Mark Paston who conceded just two goals during the tournament.
"The guys were immense again," Paston said. "To be fair Paraguay didn't have a huge amount of chances, it was just a shame we couldn't find a goal we needed."
Forgettable
In a largely forgettable first half, Paraguay enjoyed the better possession but were unable to translate that into real goalscoring opportunities.
The best two efforts came from skipper and rightback Denis Caniza with two long-range efforts.
Paraguay knew that a point would be enough to see them into the second round and they showed little ambition to go beyond that minimum requirement while New Zealand defended well but lacked creativity going forward.
The first corner of the match did not come until the 62nd minute and it almost resulted in a goal with Cristian Riveros well saved by Paston.
Paraguay brought on forwards Lucas Barrios and Edgar Benitez in a bid to liven up their attack and the move nearly paid off when, after the best move of the game, Benitez produced a curling shot that was pushed out.
New Zealand, who knew a win would send them through, brought on 18-year-old forward Chris Wood to give them some fresh legs in attack but failed to create any real openings.
Paraguay continued to produce the better chances with Santa Cruz bringing a good save out of Paston from an 80th-minute free kick.