Italy Vs Paraguay ( 1 - 1 )
Italy opened their FIFA World Cup defence with a come-from-behind 1-1 draw in Group F against Paraguay on a rainy Monday night in Cape Town. Four years on from that heavy night in Berlin, the Azzures stepped on to the Cape town pitch against a talented Paraguan side who stunned them with the opening goal to take the lead until Daniele De Rossi levelled the score in the 69th minute to finish the match 1-1 draw in Cape town.
Shot-shy Italy needed a scrambled second-half equaliser by Daniele De Rossi to snatch a 1-1 draw with Paraguay after the South Americans had looked like pulling off a shock victory in their World Cup opener Monday. Antolin Alcaraz shocked the Gemany 2006 champions in the 39th minute to open the scoring, The Italians were slightly better in the second half, levelling after another goalkeeping blunder in the 63rd minute, but did precious little to change the pessimistic view of their fans and media who sent them to South Africa with a verdict of no chance.
Japan Vs Cameroon ( 1 - 0 )
Keisuke Honda carried Japan to their first World Cup finals victory on foreign soil when he scored the goal which beat Cameroon 1-0 in a Group E match on Monday.Paul Le Guen's Cameroon had been expected to ease to victory against an out-of-form Japan in what on paper appeared their easiest group fixture.Takeshi Okada's Japan had other ideas and bustled their way to a deserved win to join the Netherlands as the day's Group E winners after the Dutch beat Denmark 2-0 in the early match.
A dour first half was briefly illuminated by Honda's 39th minute goal. Daisuke Matsui was allowed time and space on the right wing to float in a cross that evaded everyone but Honda at the far post, who finished neatly.Cameroon had registered the game's first shot on goal shortly before Honda's strike but the Indomitable Lions failed on too many occasions to feed the ball to their front three. They improved after the break with captain Samuel Eto'o beating four players down the right wing before setting up Eric Choupo Moting, who curled his shot wide of the far post. Cameroon's Stephane Mbia hit the bar late on with a rasping 30 metre drive but the African side, who left normal first-choice midfielder Alexandre Song on the bench, did not threaten enough as Japan left Honda up front while the rest defended their lead.
A dour first half was briefly illuminated by Honda's 39th minute goal. Daisuke Matsui was allowed time and space on the right wing to float in a cross that evaded everyone but Honda at the far post, who finished neatly.Cameroon had registered the game's first shot on goal shortly before Honda's strike but the Indomitable Lions failed on too many occasions to feed the ball to their front three. They improved after the break with captain Samuel Eto'o beating four players down the right wing before setting up Eric Choupo Moting, who curled his shot wide of the far post. Cameroon's Stephane Mbia hit the bar late on with a rasping 30 metre drive but the African side, who left normal first-choice midfielder Alexandre Song on the bench, did not threaten enough as Japan left Honda up front while the rest defended their lead.
Netherland Win 2-0 against Denmark
Netherland stamped a comprehensive victory over Denmark after getting a lucky own goal in the opening minute of the second half and then a late goal from Dirk Kuyt to take their World Cup campaign opener against Denmark.
They took the lead just after halftime when Denmark defender Simon Poulsen's misdirected header from Dutch striker Robin van Persie's cross hit the back of fellow Dane Daniel Agger and went into the net for the first own goal of the tournament. Forward Dirk Kuyt put the game beyond Denmark in the 85th minute when he followed up to tap home after Eljero Elia had hit the post following a through ball by Wesley Sneijder Denmark, who have not beaten the Dutch, apart from a penalty shootout victory in Euro 92, for 43 years, rarely looked like scoring in a match that never really lived up to expectations.
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