Portugal thrashes North Korea 7-0

CAPE TOWN: Portugal beat North Korea by 7-0 in a group G match on Monday in Cape Town and sent the Koreans packing for home.

Goals by Raul Meireles, Simao, Tiago - who got a double - Hugo Almeida, Liedson and Cristiano Ronaldo, gave the Portuguese a huge boost in their quest for reaching the last 16.

Ronaldo finally managed to score an international goal after almost two years.

Ivory Coast, who have a point from their first two matches, must beat North Korea by a large margin on Friday and hope already qualified five-time champions Brazil inflict a heavy defeat on the Portuguese.

Match 2

The second match of the day will be between Chile and Switzerland at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The group H match is scheduled to begin at 7pm (PST).

After two impressive 1-0 wins in their first games, Switzerland and Chile find themselves in the odd position of fighting it out for a place in the second round.  A win will virtually guarantee progress and both teams will be keen to avoid leaving it up to Spain to decide who makes it through.

Their preparations have had contrasting fortunes as Swiss defender Philippe Senderos looks set to miss the rest of the tournament with an ankle injury, while Chile's leading striker Humberto Suazo will return after recovering from the hamstring strain that threatened his participation.

Match 3

The last match of the day will be played between Spain and Honduras at Ellis Park in Johannesberg.

The group H match is scheduled to kick off at 11:30pm (PST).

Having been upset 1-0 by Switzerland in their opener, favourites Spain face a must-win game against the minnows of Honduras.

Spain know that another defeat will effectively end their hopes of progressing. Standing in their way are the lowly Hondurans, who defended stoically but still lost to Chile 1-0.

Led by Tottenham's Wilson Palacios, there is a lack of quality through the side, but there is no substitute for team spirit and, with Spain rattled, anything can happen.