Holland 2 Slovakia 1

Scorers: Robben (Hol), Sneijder (Hol), Vittek (Slo)

Attendance: 61962

Slovakia's fairy-tale run came to an end at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium on Monday, with Arjen Robben returning to the starting line-up and helping fire the organised Oranje into the quarter-finals with the first goal in a 2-1 win. As the only debutants at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ head for home with their heads held high, the Dutch – who have never before won their first four matches at the finals – can now start preparing for a last-16 test against either Brazil or Chile in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

Vladimir Weiss's Slovakia were not overawed by their fancied opponents in the early going. Erik Jendrisek fired over the bar from a decent position after only two minutes, though if that was an intended warning shot, the Dutch – with nine points from their three games so far – are not a team that rattle easily. Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder both had good chances to score subsequently before Robben, in his first start at these finals, made his mark on the match. Chasing a long ball up from midfield, the Bayern Munich winger outpaced Radoslav Zabavnik up the wide-right channel, cut inside and fired low inside the near post, beating goalkeeper Jan Mucha who might have done better. It was only the second first-half goal scored by the Netherlands in South Africa.

Arsenal ace Van Persie had the next chances as the break approached. He surprised the Slovakia defence in the 41st minute but, after cutting in from the left, could only muster a tame toe-poke at Mucha. With just seconds to go before half-time, he then stole in behind the backline but failed to control Mark van Bommel's low cross, that was whipped in through the six-yard box. Robben was in the mood again when the second period got underway. After Van Persie dragged the Slovakia defence out of position, the ball fell kindly for the former Chelsea man, who wriggled inside the area only for his sizzling low shot to be thwarted by Mucha's fingertips. The goalkeeper was called into action again from the resulting corner, bravely blocking a Joris Mathijsen effort from close range.

Suddenly, Slovakia – who shifted into a more attacking 4-4-2 for the second half – came to life in the 67th minute. Marek Hamsik pushed the ball out wide for Dutch-based striker Miroslav Stoch, but his shot was tipped over for a corner. Robert Vittek was then guilty of missing a glorious chance only seconds later. Collecting the ball in acres of space and with bags of time, he shot directly into the palms of Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg to groans from the section of the crowd not dressed in orange.

The Dutch continued to push forward in search of another goal and with six minutes to go, and the withdrawn Robben now on the bench, Dirk Kuyt chased down a long ball and crossed low for Sneijder. The Inter Milan man made no mistake with the goal at his mercy and calmly bulged the back of the net. Even though Vittek managed a consolation goal for the Slovaks in the dying seconds of stoppage time – netting from the penalty spot after Stekelenburg had brought him down – it was too late to signal a change of fortune. The Dutch now march on to meet either Brazil or Chile, who contest their Round of 16 contest at Johannesburg's Ellis Park later in the evening.

Slovakia 3 Italy 2

Scorers: Vittek (Slo) 2 goals, Kopunek (Slo), Di Natale (Ita), Quagliarella (Ita)

Attendance: 53412

Slovakia survived a late onslaught to beat Italy 3-2, reach the Round of 16 and eliminate their illustrious opponents. A Robert Vittek double and a stoppage-time lob from substitute Kamil Kopunek proved enough for Vladimir Weiss's team to advance as Group F runners-up, after late goals from Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella had ensured a dramatic conclusion to a thrilling contest in Johannesburg.

Slovakia went into the meeting at Ellis Park needing victory to progress. While Italy also required three points to guarantee a place in the knockout phase, they knew a draw would likely prove enough, as transpired to be the case. Disappointingly for the FIFA World Cup™ holders, the visionary Andrea Pirlo was only fit enough to make the bench, but Gennaro Gattuso and Antonio Di Natale were handed starts.

Weiss had urged his Slovakia side to be bold but rational against Marcello Lippi's men, and they were clearly enjoying the better of the play in the initial exchanges. They could certainly claim to have had the better chances. In the sixth minute, Vittek nodded a long ball into the path of Marek Hamsik, but the latter could only drag his volley wide. And the two exchanged roles six minutes later, with Hamsik squaring the ball to Vittek, but Italy goalkeeper Federico Marchetti was quickest to react.

So, perhaps, it came as no surprise when, in the 25th minute, Marchetti found himself picking the ball out of the back of the net. The pressure of the occasion clearly got to Daniele De Rossi, whose pass was easily intercepted by Erik Jendrisek just outside the Italian box. He promptly found Vittek and the Slovakian fired into the bottom corner to give his side a deserved lead.

Marcello Lippi's men had failed to get going in their previous two matches, and they were lacking inspiration here, too. Di Natale, De Rossi and Simone Pepe all found themselves in potential scoring positions, but were unable to make them count. Gattuso's threatening cross was headed over by Martin Skrtel as Vincenzo Iaquinta looked to profit, but there was no real punch to the Italy attack. The AC Milan veteran was typically terrier-like in midfield, looking to knock the Slovakians out of their stride, but it was Weiss's side that continued to look the more likely scorers – Zdenko Strba forced Marchetti to palm his 35-yard drive off target, Miroslav Stoch had a shot blocked, and Juraj Kucka watched his long-range effort flash inches wide deep into first-half stoppage time.

Lippi reshuffled his side at the break, with Christian Maggio and Quagliarella coming on in place of Gattuso and Domenico Criscito, as Italy went in search of a crucial goal. Iaquinta almost the found the target five minutes in but his header lacked direction. The same could be said for his team as a whole, who were lacking the required creativity – which explained why the Italian fans, at last, found their voice when Pirlo was introduced to the game in the 56th minute, shortly after a woeful finish from Di Natale.

As Pirlo begin to guide proceedings from the centre of the park, Di Natale almost made up for his miss but Jan Mucha was equal to his curling shot. Italy were, at last, stepping up a gear and when Pepe's cross was beaten away by the Slovakia goalkeeper, Quagliarella could only look on in dismay as his left-footed shot was hooked off the line by Skrtel. Slovakia, however, remained a match for Italy and minutes after Stoch's drive had fizzed a yard over, Vittek thought he had put the game out of Gli Azzurri's reach when he beat Giorgio Chiellini to Hamsik's squared ball. However, Di Natale was able to pull one back ten minutes from time, before Kopunek restored the two-goal advantage. Quagliarella's late strike set up a thrilling finish, but it was not enough for Lippi's men, who were left to contemplate a disastrous FIFA World Cup campaign.

Slovakia 0 Paraguay 2

Scorers: Vera (Par), Riveros (Par)

Attendance: 26643

Paraguay claimed their first 2010 FIFA World Cup™ victory by beating Slovakia 2-0 on Sunday in Mangaung/Bloemfontein. Top of the Group F table with four points – at least until Italy take on New Zealand later in the day – the Paraguayans got a goal in each half at the Free State Stadium through Enrique Vera and Cristian Riveros.

The South Americans controlled the contest right from the start, and they might have opened their account in the early going when Roque Santa Cruz's shot took a tricky deflection towards goal but Slovakia goalkeeper Jan Mucha was up to the task, diving well to save in the top-right corner. Riveros and Lucas Barrios then had good opportunities to confirm Paraguay's dominance. After 19 minutes Riveros had time and space for a shot from 20 yards out but his effort went straight at the keeper. Four minutes later Barrios blasted over after some fancy combination play with Vera.

Paraguay's breakthrough came after 27 minutes following a Slovakian give-away in defence. Paulo Da Silva strode forward menacingly and his pass split the defence to find Vera. With two defenders around him, the Ecuador-based midfielder finished coolly with the outside of his right boot around the despairing goalkeeper. At the other end, Slovakia's only real chance of note fell to Kornel Salata, who could not keep his free header down from a corner. Indeed Santa Cruz might have doubled the lead except for a fine save with his feet by Mucha in the 39th minute.

With only one attempt on goal in the first half, Vladimir Weiss's side came out more aggressively in the second period, but Paraguay's organised back line contained them. The Europeans very rarely even threatened to equalise, and Vera should have claimed a second goal when Santa Cruz picked him out all alone in the area in the 72nd minute, but his header bounded wide to the goalkeeper's right.

Instead it fell to Riveros to settle the encounter four minutes from time with a curling left-foot shot from the edge of the area. Slovakia will now hope to resurrect their South Africa 2010 campaign against Italy at Johannesburg's Ellis Park on Thursday, while Gerardo Martino's Paraguay take on New Zealand at the same time in Polokwane.

New Zealand 1 Slovakia 1

Scorers: Reid (NZ), Vittek (Slo)

Attendance: 23871

A last-gasp Winston Reid header snatched New Zealand an improbable draw against a dominant Slovakia side in their Group F opener in Rustenburg. Robert Vittek had put the Europeans in front, also with his head, in the 50th minute but the All-Whites hit back for a result that leaves the section's four sides level on one point - and goal difference - after Italy and Paraguay also drew 1-1 yesterday.

New Zealand defied their underdogs' status in the opening five minutes. First Killen broke free from his marker just inside the Slovakia half, charged forward and unleashed a shot that flew over. Then the same player headed wide from an inviting Leo Bertos cross. That seemed to awaken the Europeans. Wladimir Weiss, the son of the Slovakia coach, darted down the right flank before producing a low cross that Mark Paston did well to hold, before Robert Vittek cut inside but blazed his shot high and wide.

The flair of Weiss was thrilling the crowd and on 22 minutes, the Slovakia No7 found space down the left and threaded the ball through to Hamsik, who curled it wide from inside the area. Weiss then craftily laid on a chance for Stanislav Sestak, who fired into the side-netting. Minutes later the No9 missed another chance, this time from a close-range header following a corner. With ten minutes of the half remaining, Vittek cut inside from the right and fired a fierce 20-yard shot wide.

New Zealand, who had been spectators for a period, then went close. Following a neat passing move, Smeltz played a give-and-go with Rory Fallon before shooting into the side-netting from a difficult angle. It proved a brief respite, as the Slovaks dominated possession for the remainder of the half, albeit without creating any meaningful opportunities. They did just that five minutes after the restart, though, and this time they took it. Sestak crossed from the right, and Vittek powered his header into the bottom corner. It was a just reward for Slovakia's relentless assault on the Kiwis' goal.

Rather than sit back, the team in blue went in search of a second goal. On 58 minutes Sestak held the ball up well and touched it into the path of Hamsik, who failed to keep his shot down from the edge of the area. Slovakia almost doubled their lead after 66 minutes. Zdenko Strba and Sestak exchanged passes, before the latter set up Vittek. However, Paston rushed from his line to make a smart block from the 28-year-old forward.

It took an alert Tony Lochhead to deny Vittek a clear sight on goal with 15 minutes remaining, before Smeltz headed wide from a rare New Zealand attack with just minute remaining. It appeared then that their last chance had gone, but deep into injury time Smeltz crossed for Reid to steal in and nod home a dramatic equaliser.

New Zealand: 1. Paston, 3. Lochhead, 4. Reid, 5. Vicelich, 6. Nelson, 7. Elliott, 9. Smeltz, 10. Killen, 11. Bertos, 14. Fallon, 19. Smith

Subs Used: 20. Wood, 21. Christie

Slovakia: 1. Mucha, 3. Skrtel, 4. Cech, 5. Zabavnik, 6. Strba, 7. Weiss, 9. Sestak, 11. Vittek, 16. Durica, 17. Hamsik, 18. Jendrisek

Subs Used: 13. Holosko, 15. Stoch, 19. Kucka