Despite a devastating last-gasp goal and an uninspired, sleepy performance, hope still remains for the Repre. Slovakia’s slim World Cup chances received an energizing jolt roughly two hours after it disappointingly fell to Paraguay when World Cup darlings New Zealand drew defending world champions Italy 1-1. All the credit in the world must go to the All-Whites who struck early and fought valiantly through the entire match.

New Zealand continues to set new and higher precedents in their footballing history. First, it was their defeat of Serbia in the run up to the tournament. Then it was a last-gasp header and draw against the Repre, and now it’s a 1-1 draw with the world champions. Now they’ve played themselves into position to advance into the knockout round.

The stunning result also leaves the door open for Slovakia, who can advance to the next round with a win over Italy plus a Paraguay win or draw against New Zealand. Here’s the breakdown: If Paraguay wins, they’ll top the group with 7 points, and give New Zealand 2. A draw would mean the South American side finishes with 5 points while the Kiwis must settle for 3. If Slovakia can then beat Italy, they will finish with 4 points and leave the defending champs winless with 2 points and giving the Repre second place in the group. If New Zealand pulls off yet another shocker, they’ll finish with 5 points, leaving Paraguay with 4, which means that even if Slovakia did defeat Italy, they would still have to overcome Paraguay on goal differential. A loss or draw to Italy would give the Repre 1 or 2 points respectively, not enough to advance. Bottom line: Slovakia needs to win.

I’ll have much more analysis in anticipation of the big match against the Azzuri, but for now, Slovakia fans can rest easy tonight. Despite an uninspiring loss, a sliver of hope still remains.