Winston Reid has written himself into New Zealand's sporting history after heading home a last gasped equalizer against Slovakia to earn the All Whites their first points at a World Cup Soccer tournament.
Reid said that it is the most important goal of his life after the All Whites upset all form books and predictions by holding the strong Slovaks to a 1 - 1 draw in Rustenburg this morning.
The 21 year old, who was born in Takapuna, but moved to Denmark when he was 10 years old looked confident on the biggest stage although he just joined his team mates for the first time on May 20th.
Coach Ricki Herbert had selected him without seeing him play, but after coming on against Australia three weeks ago, Reid has never looked back.
Herbert said the focus now shifts to defending champion Italy who they will face on Monday morning at 2am.
In other games this morning, second half goals from Maicon and Elano helped Brazil overcome North Korea and record a 2-1 win in their opening game of the World Cup Soccer tournament in Pool G.
The Brazilians, ranked number one in the FIFA rankings, were expected to cruise past the team in 105th place in their Group encounter.
Also, Portugal got their World Cup finals off to a stuttering start with a goalless draw against a spirited Ivory Coast, a match that saw the return of Didier Drogba only 11 days after breaking his arm.
Looking at the upcoming games Honduras takes on Chile at 11.30 tonight. Tomorrow morning at 2am Spain takes on Switzerland and 6.30 South Africa takes on Uruguay.
Reid in history books
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