Slovakia at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa: the first goal and the first draw

Team Slovakia in their first match of the finals of the World Cup in South Africa, played a draw with New Zealand. A draw with the New Zealanders equalized standings in the group. As it is known that recently Italy and Paraguay have also played a draw 1:1.

A draw was a reflection of the actual situation on the field. Match between Slovakia and New Zealand took place quite smoothly. The whole first half teams were equal, made the same shots on goal and disrupting the possibilities to organize a productive attack. Among the dangerous moments worth mentioning is only Strba’s shot on target, which he made from the corner kick. However, the goalkeeper of New Zealanders could reflect the shot of the Slovak footballer.

But the second half promised to be much more successful for the Slovaks. At the 49th minute after a pass into the penalty area of New Zealand by Stanislaus Sestak the ball found the head of the Slovak winger Robert Vittek who sent the ball into the net. Vittek’s goal was historic for the national team of Slovakia. This was the first ball that scored the team Slovakia in their first ever final of the World Cup. It is worth noting that the Slovak goal wasn’t abolished despite the fact that reverse angel showed that Vittek was in an offside position.

Either way, team New Zealand was able to restore justice. It happened in the end of the match in added time. At 93th minute William Reed scored a goal, which promises to make him a national hero in New Zealand for some time.