The 2010 FIFA World Cup Thread #1/Sports Thread #1 For 6/15/10: Reid The Hero As New Zealand Get A Remarkable Point

Photo from Getty Images

What a story is the only words that I can describe New Zealand's remarkable point just now.

Winston Reid is no question the man of the match not only for burying his chance from Shane Smeltz, but also coming up with a timely block preventing Vittek a crucial 2nd goal that would have sealed the game for Slovakia and a vital three points.

But it wasn't just a lucky moment for New Zealand here. They certainly deserved this point today against a Slovakia side that didn't put them away after Vittek's nice opening effort from quality buildup between Weiss the third and Sestak.

Simon Elliott was terrific today in the midfield for the Kiwis, and so was former MLS teammate and captain Ryan Nelson. They were never out of position today where New Zealand, and that's a major credit to how spot on manger Ricki Herbert's tactics where today. Masterclass for him.

For Weiss the elder, talk about two massive points dropped. Though I still favor them and Paraguay in this group over Italy, this could be a massive blow for them, almost really a lost at the end of the day. And though Sestak, Vittek, and Weiss junior played well today, that certainly cannot be said of Hamsik today, who really provided nothing than a good shot.

Group F maybe dubbed "The Group of Stress" after these 1st round of games in this group. And if New Zealand places like this today in the other two Group matches, all the spoils in this group will probably go down to one slight deflection or mistake.

Unfortunately, the "Man of the Match" vote was done probably before Reid's goal. But even Vittek may not want it now after his team gave up the win here in the final seconds of that match:

The full review, already.

And The Match archive:

Photo from Fifa.com and Getty Images

1st half analysis:
Well, considering how many, including myself, thought New Zealand were going to get whipped from the start, this has been an impressive display in my mind by the Kiwis.

They have looked even livelier than the disappointing Slovakians so far, especially the subpar Hamsik. Simon Elliott has had a very good first half today.

But this FIFA.com tweet may have a lot of people be made with it: