New Zealand: It has been a long time that New Zealand never been qualified for the world cup finals since from 1982, that is the only one time which they had qualified for world cup finals. The Kiwis have looked impressive in a couple of friendly games in the build-up to the South Africa finale. They narrowly lost to defending world champions Italy 4-3 in a friendly last summer and defeated fellow World Cup finalists Serbia 1-0.
There's not much expectation from New Zealand in the World Cup finals and most observers suggest that they will bow out of South Africa from the group stage itself.
Check out the Soccer Betting Odds for New Zealand vs Slovakia World Cup 2010
Slovakia: This is the first time that Slovakia have qualified for the World Cup. In fact, this is the first time that the Europeans have accomplished qualification for any international competition. Indeed, it was a major achievement for Vladimir Weiss' side that they topped their group in the European qualifiers given that it also had Poland and the Czech Republic among its ranks.
The Slovaks will be hopeful for a place in the last 16. The Europeans have a young and dynamic side and have world class players both in defence and in midfield.
PREDICTION
Theoretically Slovakia should be the favourites to win against New Zealand. They have a superior team on paper and indeed have more quality up front than the Kiwis do. The World Cup betting suggests that Slovakia have a 59% chance of winning the game while New Zealand have just 19%. A draw is put at 22%.
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