In the first half, Nicklas Bendtner had a chance which he headed past the post and Nigel De Jong could have been sent off for Holland had the referee seen more of his two footed challenge. It was a fairly even first half not much to pick between the sides. Within a minute of the restart the Dutch were ahead. A cross into the box from Arsenal's Robin Van Persie, an attempted headed clearance from Simon Poulson hit of Daniel Agger's back and found it's way into the net past Sorenson. The Dutch had more of the ball in the second half without any real penetration. Five minutes from full time Dirk Kuyt tapped home the jabulani after Elia got his shot away but a fingertip save from Sorenson pushed it on to the post. That allowed Kuyt to steal in and score to wrap up the three points.
Cameroon 0 Japan 1 (Honda 37)
This match was going nowhere till the Japanese got the ball in the box & no Cameroon players got it away. It fell to Honda at the back post who took a touch and side footed the jabulani home. The 2nd half was much better as Japan started to play some good passing football, whilst Cameroon never offered much of an attacking threat for all their talent. Their best effort of the game was a Mbia long distance shot which came back off the cross bar. Japan defended admirably against a bigger and more powerful side.
Italy 1 (De Rossi 63) Paraguay 1 (Alcarez 39)
Defence's were on top in the first half. That was until with about five minutes till half time, a Torres freekick was headed into the net by Alcarez to put Paraguay one nil up. Buffon was routed to the middle of the goal as he could only watch the jabulani sail into the goal. Into the second half, Italy were growing into it the game. A Pepe corner swung in, the keeper Villar got nowhere near the ball and all Daniele De Rossi had to do was tap the ball home. With Italy now on level terms, they started to press more & create more mostly thanks to the introduction of Mauro Camoranesi. Both teams had chances to win but neither of them could take them so it finished level.
Upcoming Fixtures:-
Holland vs Japan - Saturday 12:30pm
Cameroon vs Denmark - Saturday 7:30pm
Italy vs New Zealand - Sunday 3pm
Paraguay vs Slovakia - Sunday 12:30pm
