New Zealand's defensive tactics in this morning's 0-0 soccer draw against Paraguay at the World Cup in South Africa have been labelled boring.

The result put Paraguay through to the next stage of the tournament, but ended the All Whites' campaign, following earlier 1-1 draws with Slovakia and world champions Italy.

Slovakia also progressed to the top 16 after a 3-2 win over Italy in this morning's other group F match.

Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino said he was disappointed with the match, saying the team had played badly.

"I'm not pleased with how we played. We had problems in an area where we didn't expect, and that was in attack."

Striker Roque Santa Cruz was also dissatisfied with the game.

"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," he said following the game.

"We're very happy to have qualified but it was a very difficult game."

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