Slovakia, Paraguay through to next round

JOHANNESBURG: Slovakia and Paraguay topped Group F on Thursday and managed to go through to the round of 16.

Slovakia beat Italy 3-2 in a nail biting finish to secure a place in the next round, while Paraguay tied with New Zealand, maintaining their top spot in the group and ending the journey for the kiwis at the same time.

The next two matches, to take place at 11:30pm (PST), will decide the fate of Group E teams.

Netherlands vs Cameroon

From Group E, Netherlands who have already qualified for round two, meet a down-in the-dumps Cameroon side.

The African nation, with senior players like Eto'l and coach Le Guen, will be playing for the sake of pride only, after defeats by Japan and Denmark. However, the Dutch are keen to make it three-out-of-three against Cameroon.

Japan vs Denmark

Denmark needs to defeat Japan to qualify to the next round, while Denmark only need a draw to get through.

Denmark's coach Morten Olsen said he had respect for Japan’s resilience and spirit developed under coach Takeshi Okada, and expects a tight match. Okada is in charge at a World Cup for the second time after leading Japan in France in 1998.