Paraguay or Spain for a semi-final meeting with Germany.

Iker Casillas showed a slight lack of concentration in the seventh minute but for the first twenty minutes nothing really seemed to take shape.

Paraguay did enough to contain Spain, before thinking about maybe moving forward a little themselves.

Fernando Torres almost woke up in the 27th minute, then once in the Paraguay area with two defenders Torres didn't seem to believe that he moved so well and the opportunity was lost. Xavi then watched his own shot float past the target.

Paraguay's closest attempt was when Jonathan Santana failed to get his head on Morel's long ball, and a goal disallowed for offside.

Paraguay deserved to be in front, just about; mainly because Spain didn't.

Half-time: 0:0

Spain continued to pass poorly at the start of the second-half; so much so that Vicente del Bosque decided to bring on the master passer Cesc Fabregas, for the ineffective Fernando Torres.

Then a few minutes of drama as Carlos Batres gave both teams the chance for a little penalty practise: Iker Casillas saved from Oscar Cardozo; then at the other end Justo Villar saved from Xabi Alonso, at the second attempt. Spain could have had another penalty in the melee that followed the save.

It took a while coming but even the goal was hysterical as Iniesta laid the groundwork for Pedro Rodriguez to hit the ball onto the post. David Villa's follow up shot also hit the post before settling in the back of the net.

Paraguay 0 Spain 1

Paraguay have the chance to make it four South American teams in the quarter-finals; and maybe even the semi-finals.

It took twenty minutes for the game to come to life: first Lucas Barrios turned nicely for Paraguay and forced Eiji Kawashima to save with his foot; then, at the other end, Paraguay's Justo Villar looked stretched as Daisuke Matsui curled the ball onto the bar with some power.

Keisuke Honda seemed a little upset with himself shortly before the break, but a goal would have been more than Japan deserved; taking into account their overall performance during the first forty minutes.

Paraguay didn't deserve anything either. Maybe neither side really wanted to be thrashed by Spain or Portugal in the quarter-final.

Half-time: 0:0

The most exciting thing happened on the hour, when Paraguay made a substitution; Nelson Valdez on for Edgar Benitez.

Things almost livened up some ten minutes before extra-time would be played; but, as with the previous 80 minutes, the releasing pass from both teams just had no pace on it.

The vuvuzelas increased in volume when the 90th minute ticked in. Sadly, even if the quality of play were to improve ten fold, ten times nothing is still nothing.

Thankfully, this will all be over in half an hour and then we can get back to the real World Cup.

Into Extra Time.

If the players of Spain and Portugal were watching this, they probably all fell asleep.

As a thank-you for not being the last Paraguayan player to be substituted, Lucas Barrios headed goalwards in the 4th minute of extra-time, but much too comfortable for Kawashima.

Then Nelson Valdez tried to get the final touch past Kawashima, before the game needed penalties.

In the ninth minute of extra-time, Keisuke Honda's free-kick was going wide but Villar wanted to come into the game, so hit it away for fun.

All the action happened in extra-time, as Edgar Barreto was next up; to flick the ball over the Japanese crossbar.

So, from the fear of playing Spain or Portugal to the fear of not playing at all. Two teams with fifteen minutes to do something, or continue with nothing.

Tense, nervous and lacking ambition - Paraguay and Japan did very little to entertain the fans, although Japan did excite theirs for a split second.

Paraguay 0 Japan 0 - After Extra Time. (5:3 pens)

Penalties:
Paraguay started first.

1:0 Edgar Barreto - Took a deep breath and scored.
1:1 Yasuhito Endo - Raised his fist after sending Villar the wrong way.
2:1 Lucas Barrios - Looked casual but only just out of reach.
2:2 Makoto Hasebe - Scored and kissed the stars.
3:2 Cristian Riveros - Easily taken.
3:2 Yuichi Komano - Hit hard and high; onto the crossbar.
4:2 Nelson Valdez - Crashed the ball home, then fell to his knees.
4:3 Keisuke Honda - Calmly side-footed.
5:3 Oscar Cardozo - No sense of pressure, so slow and cool.

Paraguay reach the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

It was all square in Group F before this game, but Paraquay were probably happier with their point against Italy than Slovakia were with theirs against New Zealand.

The first real strike of the game fell to Paraguay's Roque Santa Cruz. The shot might have taken a slight deflection off Martin Skrtel, but Jan Mucha - heading to Everton next season - took no chances and made sure the ball went out for a corner.

Slovakia's best move came when Vladimir Weiss woke up in the 16th minute; to find Stanislav Sestak, asleep in his place.

A couple of minutes later, Cristian Riveros drove the shot low and hard for Paraguay. Not much of a Jabulani moment for Mucha though.

Paraguay finally put the pieces together, shortly before the half-hour mark, when Lucas Barrios released Enrique Vera; after drawing a couple of Slovakia players out of the danger area.

Seven minutes before the break, Vera forced a mistake in the Slovakia defence but Mucha kicked out his foot to save from Roque Santa Cruz.

A minute later, Paraguay's Lucas Barrios again looked a handful running to the touchline.

Half-time: 0:1

As Slovakia tried to get themselves back in the game and Paraguay looked to gain a better advantage, the game still had a lot of potential, around the hour mark.

Sadly, this is about the time that all the substitutions start taking place and a lot of the game's rhythm is broken.

Enrique Vera missed the chance to give Paraguay the cushion they needed; when he headed wide from a Roque Santa Cruz, left-wing cross.

Slovakia seemed content to contain Paraguay and maybe hope to snatch a late equaliser, or conserve energy and hope to get the better of Italy.

Either way, Slovakia's lack of conviction cost them another goal; as a Paraguay free-kick from the left was headed into the middle and, after a little mix-up, squared beautifully to Cristian Riveros.

Slovakia 0 Paraguay 2

The 2006 World Cup champions are out to defend their title.

Italy started well, playing fast and direct; maybe helped by the wet surface in Cape Town.

Even with a double corner in the 20th minute, Paraguay kept three players half-way up the pitch and were nearly caught out by an Italian break.

Both teams started losing possession far too easy and then Paraguay earned a seemingly harmless free-kick, out on the right, six minutes before half-time.

There didn't seem to be any urgency in the Paraguay camp, then Aureliano Torres curled the ball high into the rain and Antolín Alcaraz rose above the blue shirts to head the ball across Gianluigi Buffon and put the South Americans in front.

The Italians, who pride themselves on defence, found themselves a goal down.

Half-time: 0:1

A surprising substitution at half-time was Federico Marchetti coming on for Gianluigi Buffon.

When Paraguay started to sit back on their lead, Italy picked themselves up, brought on Mauro Camoranesi for Claudio Marchisio and earned a corner that Justo Villar totally missed. Daniele De Rossi was on hand at the back post to pull the world champions level.

And true to form, the whole Italian bench celebrated as if they'd just won the World Cup Final again.

Italy 1 Paraguay 1