A significant last minute cross by Shane Smeltz and a strong header by Winston Reid on day 5 made history for New Zealand as they tied Slovakia (1-1) at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in the City of Rustenburg. Slovakia found their first ever World Cup goal in the 50th minute through Robert Vittek's header.
Ivory Coast - Portugal: 0-0 was the final score in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium at Port Elizabeth. In a tactical battle in which both sides almost looked nervous to secure 2nd place in Group G behind Brazil, "The Elephants" created the better chances. Portugal looked dangerous at times, and a draw seemed to be a fair result. Cristiano Ronaldo almost gave his side an early advantage. Didier Drogba had the best chance of the game in added time.
Brazil worked hard up until the second half to secure a 2-1 win over North Korea at the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. It took the five-time World Champions 55 minutes to break the resistance of the North Korean defense with a superb shot by Maicon. Brazil's second goal came from Elano, who slid the ball beyond the North Korean goalkeepers reach. Ji Yun Nam, after a strong burst through the Brazilian defense, fired the ball past Julio Cesar in the 89th minute to add some excitement to the final minutes of the game, which Brazil dominated. Korea DPR's "defense mechanism" looked very impressive.
Chile secured a first World Cup win in forty-eight years with a late first-half goal by Jean Beausejour, ending a 13-game "no-win run" since defeating Yugoslavia to finish third as hosts in 1962. Honduras - Chile: 0-1 read the score at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit. Chile could have been a couple of goals ahead by half time. Honduras barely came close throughout the game.
"Top!" Spaniards struggle to get-through a well organized Suisse team. Gelson Fernandes strikes a loose ball into an open goal in the 52nd minute ... Switzerland 1 : Spain 0
Switzerland have caused the biggest "shock" of the 2010 FIFA World Cup over "favorites" Spain in their Group H encounter in the Durban Stadium. This was the second loss for Spain in 49 matches (the other stunning loss - 0-2 - was against the USA in the semi-final of the 2009 Confederations Cup). The Spaniards spend most of the time passing the ball in midfield, not creating too many serious chances. Xabi Alonso struck the bar with a "low-held" thunder-ball from 25-yards, but the Swiss almost doubled their lead soon after, with Eren Derdiyok beating two Spanish defenders before nicely "rolling" the ball onto the post.
Diego Forlan ended Bafana Bafana's 12 game unbeaten run scoring 2 in Uruguay’s 3-0 victory over the World Cup hosts at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Tshwane/Pretoria. South Africa ended the match with ten men when goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was sent off and caused a penalty. Bafana had a hard time going forward and seemed unorganized in midfield. Uruguay deserved their win.
"The first 90 minutes are the most important"
