However, I'll go ahead and leave those particular talking points alone for now, and start how the day started with Paraguay's impressive display against Slovakia.
I made mention of Slovakia's failure to convince after they were not only held 1-1 in their presumed easiest group fixture versus New Zealand, but were second best for the majority of the match and only even took the lead when an offside goal was allowed.
Their hollow run continued against the South Americans - only this time, there was no good fortune to help salvage something from the game, only two good goals from Enrique Vera and Cristian Riveros.
Paraguay now have four points from two games and also have their meeting with the group seeds and World champions Italy out of the way. With Slovakia needing a win against the mighty Azzuri and Paraguay only having to avoid defeat against the lowly Kiwis for a place in the second round, there's certainly now only one of the two nations who anyone would put any money on.
The funny thing is, the above paragraph made perfect sense before the 15:00 contest between Italy and New Zealand. Come 5pm, and on the strength of each sides' performance in both their WC games so far, you have to wonder which one really does provide the tougher task for their opponent come match day three.
Marcelo Lippi saw the error of his ways during the 1-1 draw with the Paraguayans, modifying his peculiar choice of formation in favour of the tried and tested 4-4-2 and, thanks to a little bit of luck for De Rossi's goal, the champs looked more like their old selves for the majority of the second half.
However, those who assumed it would be business as usual for the four-time cup winners beginning with their David v Goliath encounter with the All Whites would be in for a shock - particularly when Shane Smeltz put the underdogs ahead from close range with just seven minutes on the clock.
The goal came with plenty of controversy, as while Smeltz was onside for the initial delivery into the box, he was a yard offside as the ball appeared to graze the head of last week's hero Winston Reid as he rose to try and net his second of the tournament.
Though I wasn't sure at first, several more replays make me believe that Reid did indeed get something on the ball and thus the Kiwis were quite fortunate to be allowed the goal. However, after going behind to a clearly offside goal against Slovakia, I really doubt you'll find a NZ fan willing to listen to any lectures on the matter.
The equaliser brought plenty of debate, too - a penalty was given after Tommy Smith was caught grasping Daniele De Rossi's shirt in the box. While the call was technically correct, De Rossi went down in dramatic fashion which seemed to draw the attention of the official more than the actual shirt-pulling did.
Illegal grabbing and tussling such as this has unfortunately been rife throughout the tournament, and the Kiwis will feel annoyed somewhat that of the many shirt pulls in the last ten days, they happen to be one of the only teams to be penalised, perhaps purely because of the addition of a frankly pathetic drop to ground by De Rossi.
I also found such play-acting to be frustratingly rife among the Italian side - and particularly disappointing from otherwise stellar defenders Chiellini and Criscito. On the other hand, the entire New Zealand back five were excellent, shirt-pull aside, particularly goalkeeper Mark Paston after his nervy performance against Slovakia.
The result in the end was a point more than earned by the Oceanic reps, and two more dropped by the incumbents who must now deliver the goods against the unimpressive Slovaks if they're to avoid an embarrassing early departure.
Brazil collected three points against North Korea last time out, but were far from the talk of the town as their unfancied opponents captivated the globe with their fearless performance and terrific late consolation goal.
And although they were far more impressive and assertive in their comfortable 3-1 victory over Cote d'Ivoire, once again their win - which made them the second team after the Netherlands to book their second round spot - was undermined, courtesy of a Mr. Abdulkader Keita.
With victory wrapped up courtesy of a brilliant Luis Fabiano brace and a second of the WC for Elano - who later suffered a seemingly serious injury - despite a consolation from Didier Drogba, Kaka found himself the recipient of two quickfire yellow cards, one for a shove on Yaya Toure and the second for... punching Keita in the face?
Well, that's what Keita apparently managed to convince the officials. However, in this day and age, absolutely nothing can avoid the many television cameras around the stadium, and we at home watching on the box soon saw the true extent of the incident - Kaka perhaps unwisely leant out a forearm to the abdominal region of Keita as the Ivoirian looked to be running into the Real Madrid playmaker's path, and the minute they made contact, Keita dropped to the floor clutching his face.
One would imagine that there's no way this red card will stick once FIFA reviews the tapes, and in fact even a one game suspension wouldn't anger Dunga and co too much given that their game with Portugal is now nothing more than a matter of guaranteeing top spot in Group G.
The actions of Keita are the least of Sven-Goran Eriksson's worries, anyway. Once again at a major tournament, the infamous Swede has displayed a crippling lack of tactical depth once things start to go pear-shaped. Now, assuming Portugal do get the expected result against North Korea, their slim chance of continuing on in the World Cup will be out of their hands.
Tomorrow, the aforementioned clash between Carlos Quieroz's Portugese and the North Korean overachievers will provide some answers as to who will join Brazil in the last sixteen. Plus, the most enjoyable (and final) group of the WC field play their second games as opening match day victors Chile and Switzerland and defeated Spain and Honduras do battle. Until then, here's the updated game and goal ratings!
THE GAMES SO FAR:
- Argentina v South Korea, Group B, June 17 (4-1) - 9
- United States v Slovenia, Group C, June 18 (2-2) - 8.5
- Germany v Austrailia, Group D, June 13 (4-0) - 8
- Spain v Switzerland, Group H, June 16 (0-1) - 8
- Brazil v North Korea, Group G, June 15 (2-1) - 7.5
- South Africa v Mexico, Group A, June 11 (1-1) - 7.5
- Denmark v Cameroon, Group E, June 19 (2-1) - 7.5
- Brazil v Cote d'Ivoire, Group G, June 20 (3-1) - 7.5
- Italy v New Zealand, Group F, June 20 (1-1) - 7.5
- Chile v Honduras, Group H, June 16 (1-0) - 7
- South Africa v Uruguay, Group A, June 16 (0-3) - 7
- Nigeria v Greece, Group B, June 17 (1-2) - 7
- Ghana v Australia, Group D, June 19 (1-1) - 6.5
- Paraguay v Slovakia, Group F, June 20 (2-0) - 6.5
- Argentina v Nigeria, Group B, June 12 (1-0) - 6.5
- Germany v Serbia, Group D, June 18 (0-1) - 6.5
- New Zealand v Slovakia, Group F, June 15 (1-1) - 6.5
- France v Mexico, Group A, June 17 (0-2) - 6
- Ghana v Serbia, Group D, June 13 (1-0) - 6
- Holland v Japan, Group E, June 19 (1-0) - 6
- England v United States, Group C, June 12 (1-1) - 6
- South Korea v Greece, Group B, June 12 (2-0) - 6
- Japan v Cameroon, Group E, June 14 (1-0) - 6
- Holland v Denmark, Group E, June 14 (2-0) - 6
- Italy v Paraguay, Group F, June 14 (1-1) - 5.5
- Cote d'Ivoire v Portugal, Group G, June 15 (0-0) - 4.5
- England v Algeria, Group C, June 18 (0-0) - 3
- France v Uruguay, Group A, June 11 (0-0) - 3
- Algeria v Slovenia, Group C, June 13 (0-1) - 3
THE GOALS SO FAR:
- Tshabalala (South Africa v Mexico, June 11) 9
- Higuain [3] (Argentina v South Korea, June 17) 9
- Birsa (Slovenia v United States, June 18) 9
- Luis Fabiano [1] (Brazil v Cote d'Ivoire, June 20) 9
- Forlan (Uruguay v South Africa, June 16) 8.5
- Maicon (Brazil v North Korea, June 15) 8.5
- Podolski (Germany v Australia, June 13) 8
- Yun-Nam Ji (North Korea v Brazil, June 15) 8
- Rommedahl (Denmark v Cameroon, June 19) 8
- Luis Fabiano [2] (Brazil v Cote d'Ivoire, June 20) 8
- Donovan (United States v Slovenia, June 18) 8
- Ljubijankic (Slovenia v United States, June 18) 8
- Vera (Paraguay v Slovakia, June 20) 7.5
- Klose (Germany v Australia, June 13) 7.5
- Ji-Sung Park (South Korea v Greece, June 12) 7.5
- Elano (Brazil v Cote d'Ivoire, June 20) 7.5
- Muller (Germany v Australia, June 13) 7.5
- Bendtner (Denmark v Cameroon, June 19) 7.5
- Elano (Brazil v North Korea, June 15) 7.5
- Uche (Nigeria v Greece, June 17) 7.5
- Gerrard (England v United States, June 12) 7.5
- Drogba (Cote d'Ivoire v Brazil, June 20) 7
- Bradley (United States v Slovenia, June 18) 7
- Heinze (Argentina v Nigeria, June 12) 7
- Reid (New Zealand v Slovakia, June 15) 7
- Higuain [1] (Argentina v South Korea, June 17) 7
- Riveros (Paraguay v Slovakia, June 20) 7
- Honda (Japan v Cameroon, June 14) 7
- Pereira (Uruguay v South Africa, June 16) 7
- Hernandez (Mexico v France, June 17) 7
- Cacau (Germany v Australia, June 13) 7
- Alcaraz (Paraguay v Italy, June 14) 7
- Eto'o (Cameroon v Denmark, June 19) 7
- Sneijder (Holland v Japan, June 19) 7
- Jovanovic (Serbia v Germany, June 18) 7
- Chong-Yong Lee (South Korea v Argentina, June 17) 6.5
- Fernandes (Switzerland v Spain, June 16) 6.5
- Beausejour (Chile v Honduras, June 16) 6
- Jung-Soo Lee (South Korea v Greece, June 12) 6
- Kuyt (Holland v Denmark, June 14) 6
- Koren (Slovenia v Algeria, June 13) 6
- Holman (Australia v Ghana, June 19) 5.5
- Higuain [2] (Argentina v South Korea, June 17) 5.5
- Marquez (Mexico v South Africa, June 11) 5
- Salpingidis (Greece v Nigeria, June 17) 5
- Dempsey (United States v England, June 12) 5
- Torosidis (Greece v Nigeria, June 17) 4.5
- De Rossi (Italy v Paraguay, June 14) 4.5
- Smeltz (New Zealand v Italy, June 20) 4.5
- Vittek (Slovakia v New Zealand, June 15) 4
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