Day 5 review

The World Cup meandered along on day 6, as once again the big guns failed to set the World Cup alight. The number of teams who have now stepped out onto the pitch now totals 30, and apart from Germany and Holland, none have really set a marker down for the tournament. Brazil had the chance to do so tonight, and the world was watching with anticipation as the five times World champions started their campaign against minnows North Korea. But the expected walkover never materialised, and Brazil struggled to a narrow 2-1 victory. The preparations for the Asians was hardly ideal - due to the draconian Communist rule, their football federation could not afford to put their players up in a posh hotel with all the amenities. So the 23 players have been working out in a local community gym. But the North Koreans have clearly come to South Africa to make an impression, and as Brazil failed to settle with their array of talent, the Koreans looked like they could cause a real upset. Star striker Tae Se-Jong, who plays in the J-League and cried during the national anthem, was causing the excellent Lucio many more problems than the much vaunted Bayern Munich attack did in the Champions League final, and tested keeper Julio Cesar with a stinging shot, before defender Ri Kwang-chon dragged wide from a good position. But just when it looked as if a major upset was on the cards, Maicon settled the nerves with a fabulous goal (if he meant it!) He scampered down the wing, and Elano bided his time before releasing the Inter Milan full-back. He was almost on the by-line, and a cross looked inevitable. But to everyone's surprise, not least keeper's Myong-Guk Ri, who had come out half expecting a cross, he cut across the ball to bend it in the near post. After Luis Fabiano missed a good chance, Robinho played a lovely ball to former Manchester City teammate Elano, and the latter made no mistake. Robinho looks a different player to the one which left Eastlands on loan in January. There was still time for a major scare, as Ji-Yun Nam comfortably beat Cesar with two minutes left, but there was to be no fairytale finish.

Group G had been opened with a dour goalless draw between Portugal and Ivory Coast, in a game which had been billed as one of the most eye-catching ties of the first round. In a match lacking in any real quality, Portugal showed they have not left their qualifying blues behind them, while the Ivorians would probably have settled for the point before the match started, in light of star striker and captain Didier Drogba not recovering from his broken arm in time to make the starting line-up. He did enter the fray for the final 25 minutes, but he struggled to make any impact. The fate of both these teams will probably rest on beating North Korea comfortably, and not being thrashed by Brazil. Although on the evidence of today, the former of those two is far from a certainty. Cristiano Ronaldo, in between his preening and whining, had the games best chance after ten minutes, when he engineered some space 25 yards out before firing in a fantastic swerving shot which crashed off the post. And the world's most expensive player is still waiting for his first international goal since Euro 2008. But that was as good as it got. It is not hard to see how Portugal struggled so much in qualifying - they lacked invention, and why Deco is in the starting line-up, considering he couldn't even make the bench at Chelsea towards the end of the season, God only knows. They also lacked a cutting edge, and the naturalisation of Liedson shows how badly they miss the likes of strikers Pauleta and Nuno Gomes. But credit must go to the Ivory Coast. They conceded three goals in all of their games in the 2006 World Cup, and there had been rumours of unrest in the camp. But Sven Goran Eriksson sent out a well-organised and disciplined unit, although this only served to prove that defences have been on top so far in South Africa. As the match wore on, and with the introduction of Drogba, the Africans looked the more likely winners. Salomon Kalou was inches away from an inviting cross, and fired straight at keeper Eduardo, and the lightning quick Gervinho fired across the face of goal. The best chance, however, fell to Drogba. He darted on to a through ball, but under pressure from Chelsea colleague Paulo Ferreira, he fired across the six yard box. If he had been fully fit and prepared, that chance would have had only one destination. But as it is, this match failed to reach the heights expected of it, and the qualifying hopes of both hang very much in the balance.

The first match of the day was one which not many will have marked down on their World Cup wallchart - New Zealand against Slovakia, with a combined total of three World Cup matches between them. New Zealand lost those three comprehensively in 1982, but they performed much better in a far from full Bafokeng Stadium, and a 93rd minute equaliser from defender Winston Reid was met with rapturous applause and delirious celebrations. For much of the match, they were the better team against a Slovakia team for whom the majority of their players play in the major European leagues. Middlesbrough striker Chris Killen twice went close early on for the All Whites, and Slovakia failed to show much as an attacking force, as the much heralded Napoli playmaker Marek Hamsik was struggling to get into the game. New Zealand keeper Mark Paston almost gifted captain Robert Vittek the opening goal after miscuing a clearance, before saving smartly from Hamsik. But the breakthrough came five minutes after the restart, as winger Stanislas Sestak whipped ver a glorious cross from the left for Vittek to finish with a powerful header into the bottom corner. But Slovakia seemed unwilling to press home their advantage, and Vittke dallied on a chance to wrap the match up. And they were made to pay in stoppage-time, when former English lower league player Shane Smeltz crossed for Reid to head into the back of the net. His shirt came off, showing what it meant to the huge underdogs. But both of these teams will have their work cut out to qualify, with Italy and Paraguay waiting.

PLAYER OF THE DAY - Robinho.

The Manchester City playmaker looks a different player to the one who was shoved out the back door of Eastlands in January. He pulled the strings, and set up Elano with an excellent through ball for the winning goal. His loan move to Santos looks to have done him the power of good, and if anything, the world's second most expensive player Kaka was in his shadow.

GOAL OF THE DAY - Maicon.

With North Korea looking like they could produce one of the biggest World Cup shocks of all time, right back Maicon popped up with an amazing goal to spare Brazil's blushes. He was released by Elano towards the by-line on the right, and with everyone expecting a cross, he bent the ball inside the near post from a seemingly impossible angle. It may have looked like a fluke. But look at a You Tube clip of him scoring against Juventus last season, and you'll realise there are few better strikers of a ball in the world game.

GAFFE OF THE DAY - ITV.

Not on the pitch, but off the pitch. One of the leading in-studio pundits, Robbie Earle, has been sacked by the broadcaster after passing on tickets for family and friends on to a third party, for the match between Denmark and Holland yesterday. This seems extremely foolish on the face of it, and it looks like it's linked to 36 women who were wearing orange mini-dresses and were accused of ambush marketing for a beer company, and were ejected from the stadium. A very convoluted story, and following the ITV HD channel missing the England goal on Saturday due to technical hitches (in scenes reminiscent to the FA Cup replay between Everton and Liverpool in February 2009. Adrian Chiles may be wondering whether he's made the right career move. But to be fair, the BBC have not exactly been error free - receiving 545 complaints for the noise of the vuvuzela complaints, and Emmanuel Adebayor's phone ringing in the middle of a pre-match build up.

MOMENT OF THE DAY - Jong Tae-Se

For anyone who has any doubts about what the World Cup means to those participating, you only needed to watch the national anthems before Brazil took on North Korea. Forget the surly Franck Ribery. North Korea's start striker Jong had real tears in his eyes before kick-off, as his country lined up for their first World Cup match in 44 years against the five times World champions. That's what football's all about - raw emotion.

FANTASY TEAM

Only Marek Hamsik represented my fantasy team on day five, and he didn't really hit the heights expected of him in a poor Slovakia performance (from an attacking point of view at least). Not really much else to say!