2010 FIFA World Cup Group E

All times local (UTC+2) Man of the Match: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) Assistant referees: Eric Dansault (France)[2] Laurent Ugo (France)[2] Fourth official: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)[2] Fifth official: Paolo Calcagno (Italy)[2] On the 39th minute, from a surprising Daisuke Matsui cross from the right wing, Keisuke Honda chipped in and delivered home to give Japan the lead, a lead which Japan would successfully defend for the remainder of the match.

This defeat was a huge shock at the time, due to Japan's poor friendly results and their relatively unknown squad versus to that of Cameroon.

Man of the Match: Keisuke Honda (Japan) Assistant referees: José Cardinal (Portugal)[2] Bertino Miranda (Portugal)[2] Fourth official: Óscar Ruiz (Colombia)[2] Fifth official: Abraham González (Colombia)[2] The first clear chance of the game came from midfielder Wesley Sneijder when he shot over the bar from a long-range free-kick.

When Japan broke up the Netherlands' passing, midfielder Daisuke Matsui was positive, helping a move that set Yuto Nagatomo up for a shot that he hit wide.

Towards the end of the first half, Japan had two chances: defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka heading wide and Matsui with a powerful shot at the goalkeeper.

Substitute Shunsuke Nakamura later managed to make a cross into the six-yard box, which was cleared by Van Persie.

[5] The result was the Netherlands' second win in the competition, which meant that they would progress to the knockout stage if they did not lose their last match or Cameroon did not defeat Denmark.