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It was a day of firsts in today’s World Cup match-up between Paraguay and Japan. Paraguay won 5-3 after 120 minutes of scoreless soccer in the first penalty kick shootout of the 2010 World Cup. This is also the only time that the Paraguayans have made it through to the round of eight.

South America continued its dominance of this years World Cup, with Paraguay being the fourth team from the continent to qualify for the next round of games.

Paraguay made all five of their shots in the shootout and Japanese defender Yuichi Komano was the only player missing the target, when his shot skipped over the cross bar.

Honestly, it was a pretty boring game to watch. Both teams had a few chances on goal throughout the game, but overall the match was pretty sloppy. Midfield play was less than perfect from both sides with a lot balls being turned over in the middle third. The only real chances of game were due to sloppy play from the opposition, which allowed a quick counter.

Hopefully the second game of the day between Spain and Portugal will make up for the lack of excitement in this one.

Spain defeated Chile 2-1 to win Group H as Switzerland tied Honduras 0-0.  Spain finished on top of the group and avoided Brazil with 6 points and a +2 goal differential.  Chile also finished with 6 points but with a  goal differential of only +1.  Switzerland needed a win today but could not break through the Honduran back line.

Spain looked great at times but also looked shaky once again in the back.  David Villa scored a magical goal in the 24th minute from 45 yards out to get Spain on the board.  Andres Iniesta then doubled their lead in the 37th with a great first timed finish.

Chile came out in the second half flying and got on the board when substitute Rodrigo Millar’s shot deflected in the 47th minute to beat Iker Casillas.  Chile however could not break through again and knowing that this result was good enough for them to get through to the next round they dropped off and allowed Spain the majority of possession.

Switzerland will be extremely disappointed to not get through after defeating Spain in their first match.  Switzerland needed a victory today but Honduras stayed organized and gave them everything they had.  The Swiss just don’t have the players with offensive mentalities to play with the creativity needed at this level in the final third.

Group G came to a close today with Brazil and Portugal ending in a 1-1 draw and Ivory Coast defeating North Korea 3-0.  Brazil finished on top of the group with 7 points with Portugal finishing second with 5 points.

Brazil had the majority of possession throughout their match against Portugal but could not break through to get the winner.   Without star midfielder Kaka, Brazil did not show their creativeness in the midfield.  Luis Fabiano had a few decent chances and will need to find the back of the net in knockout stage.

Cristiano Ronaldo was up top alone for Portugal and will need some help if they want to go deep into the tournament.  He did however have a decent match as he caused the Brazilian defense problems all match even though he was consistently double and triple teamed.

Ivory Coast needed help and a ton of goals to get through but the soccer gods didn’t cooperate for them.  Ivory Coast did however finish on a high note as they crushed North Korea 3-0.  Yaya Toure, Romaric, and Soloman Kalou each found the net for Ivory Coast.  Ivory Coast finished with 4 points and North Korea finished with 0.

Italy has been officially knocked out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup after falling 3-2 to Slovakia.  The defending champions finished in 4th place for the first time in their great history.

In the other match Paraguay and New Zealand drew 0-0.  Paraguay finished on top of the group with 5 points and Slovakia finishes second with 4 points.

After drawing its first two matches Italy knew that a win could get them into the knockout round.  This is by far the biggest upset of the tournament.  Slovakia is a solid team but Italy choked in my opinion.  Typically Italy is very strong defensively and rarely gives up goals but today they were awful.

Slovakia took the early lead in the 25th minute when Robert Vittek’s shot from 18 yards out found the back post side net.  Vitteck would then make it 2-0 in the 73rd minute beating his defender to the near post to find the net.

Italy showed a lot of heart in the second half and had a few chances to actually tie the match.  Antonio Di Natale got the Italians on the board in the 81st minute but Kamil Kopunek answered just 7 minutes later for Slovakia.  Italy would not go down without a fight though as they made it 3-2 when Fabio Quagliarella scored in the 90th minute.  Italy had a great chance to earn the draw in the last seconds but could not break through.

In the later matches of the day Group D was decided. Germany beat Ghana 1-0, while Australia defeated Serbia 2-1. Although Australia won they still were sent home due to goal differential. Germany won Group D and will face England in the round of 16 and with Ghana taking second place they will take on the Americans.

The U.S. will have their hands full with a fast and physical Ghana team. The Americans will surely be out for a little revenge as Ghana sent them home in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The Germany England match-up will also be a great game to watch. With everyone still wondering about how good England really is, this should be a great opportunity to see how they match up against one of the stronger teams in the tournament.

Check out David Matthew’s culturally insensitive World Cup goal round up at Deadspin.com to see highlights of the goals. The music he adds is HILARIOUS!!- Your Culturally Insensitive World Cup Round Up For June 23