Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz said he is confident of beating World Cup defending champions Italy in Group F match in Cape Town on Monday.

"We will win 1-0 or 2-0," Cruz said. "We want to get the victory. We're a good side and can do something important in this World Cup. It's a very compact squad with great players in defence and midfield, plus four top class forwards - something we did not have before."

Cruz has the reason to be so confident as Paraguay qualified for the 2010 World Cup finals after beating Brazil and Argentina, both favorites here.

"Defensively, Italy are very strong and if they score first it will be difficult to catch up, but we must play an intelligent game and calmly build our way to goal." Cruz said.

Group F also includes New Zealand and Slovakia.