Arrivederci to the Azzurri of Italy in the 2010 World Cup

Arrivederci to the Azzurri of Italy in the 2010 World Cup. The defending champions from the 2006 World Cup, the Italians were sent home in the first stage, being eliminated from World Cup Group F.

This is despite the fact that most felt that the Italians were slotted into the weakest of the eight tournament groups. While the Italian side was well known to be inconsistent, and a repeat performance was not expected in the 2010 World Cup, it's still a shocker to see the Azzurri be sent packing in the Group stage.

We've now said arrivederci to the Italian World Cup team and au revoir to the French side, which means that both of the participants from the 2006 Finals, France and Italy, are gone before the knockout stages have even begun for the tournament. The two teams weren't solely riding on their earlier performances either in terms of their status in the field. Italy was ranked as the number 5 team in the world and France as the number 9 team in the world heading into the 2010 World Cup, according to the last FIFA World Rankings.

While some of the tournament favorites are gone, the field is still jam-packed with talent, including most of the true powerhouse teams, such as Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and the Netherlands. Luckily for stateside fans, while we've said goodbye in Italian and goodbye in French, we've not had to say "c ya!" to our Yanks, and or even adios to our southern rivals, Mexico, whom we'd welcome a showdown with.

In the Italy vs. Slovakia game that sent the Italians home, they fell behind and looked inept for most of the match. They turned up the heat late in the game and were able to make for a furious, exciting and close finish, but it was too late. Slovakia bested them 3-2, and the Azzurri fell to the bottom of Group F.

So whether you want to say arrivederci, goodbye, au revoir, good riddance, adios or anything else, you can bid farewell to tournament run for Italy in the 2010 World Cup. One of the best teams in the world and one of the favorites to win the tournament have been sent packing.