JOHANNESBURG,  (Reuters) – Father Time finally caught  up with poor old Italy yesterday when they were deposed as  world champions after suffering a dramatic and shocking 3-2  defeat at the hands of World Cup debutants Slovakia.

An ageing squad, debilitating injuries and the admission  after the match from coach Marcello Lippi that he had not  trained his men well enough for the World Cup all contributed to  their woeful performance in their three Group F matches.     Their 1-1 draws against Paraguay and New Zealand and  yesterday’s defeat left Italy at the bottom of the section.

Although few people expected Italy to retain the crown they  won four years ago, most observers thought they would at least  reach the knockout stages.

However, their inability to overcome even a relatively  modest team like Slovakia illustrates just how far Italy have  fallen since winning the World Cup four years ago.

The performance of 36-year-old centre back and captain Fabio  Cannavaro, Italy’s record caps holder, summed that up perfectly.

The world player of the year in 2006, he looked a completely  different person in Ellis Park where he was again beaten for  pace and lost his positional sense time and again.

STRANGE QUIRK

By a strange quirk of fate, France, who lost on penalties to  Italy in the World Cup final in Germany four years ago, also  finished bottom of their group.

For the first time ever, the two finalists from the previous  tournament have both gone out in the group stage.

But while France’s dramatic implosion was largely  unexpected, the writing has been on the wall for the Italians  for some time — although few predicted they would fail so  dismally.

After opening with a 1-1 draw against eventual group winners  Paraguay, which was not unduly criticised back home, Italy’s  campaign nosedived dramatically last Sunday when they were held  to a 1-1 draw by outsiders New Zealand in Nelspruit.

The result, the greatest in that country’s soccer history,  represented one of Italy’s lowest points in their long World Cup  story and one of the biggest shocks in the tournament ever.

Yesterday’s defeat by Slovakia, no matter how thrilling and  tense it was, brought absolute confirmation, if it was needed,  that Italy’s time was up.

Lippi has been criticised since returning to the job of  national coach two years ago for sticking too rigidly with too  many players from the World Cup-winning side of 2006. He was not helped by injuries to goalkeeper Gianluigi  Buffon, or midfielder Andrea Pirlo, who came on as a second half  substitute, but even with them fully fit it is doubtful if Italy  would have gone all that much further.

OLD GUARD

Five of yesterday’s starting lineup were 30 or over and they  gave the impression of men who had seen and done it all before  and possibly took Slovakia’s threat a little too lightly.

In stark contrast, Slovakia’s mostly journeymen players,  battled, ran and harried for every ball. They were far more  concise in their passing and support play and, prompted by Marek  Hamsik, who is with Napoli, played with a belief Italy lacked.

Robert Vittek took both his goals superbly, and Miroslav  Stoch and Jan Durica more than matched the accomplished Gennaro  Gattuso and Daniele De Rossi in their midfield duels.

To their credit, Italy did not go down without a fight,  battling back from 2-0 and then 3-1 down to reduce the arrears  and Fabio Quagliarella scored with a fabulous chip in injury  time to keep Italy’s lingering hopes alive.    The match brought to a close Lippi’s second spell as Italy  coach and also saw the end of the international careers of  Cannavaro and Gennaro Gattuso after the trio said this would be  their last tournament with the national side.

Lippi will be succeeded by Cesare Prandelli, who has left  Fiorentina to toake over, but the new coach is unlikely to be  able to mould a world-beating team in the foreseeable future.

On the evidence of the last week or so, Italy’s young guns  have yet to reach the level of the older generation.

Unless Prandelli unearths some major young talent for the  Euro 2012 qualifying campaign which starts later this year,  Italy could well be struggling for some time to come.