There was a head to head between Nigel de Jong and Vladimir Weiss yesterday afternoon as de Jong's Netherlands side progressed to the quarter finals with a 2-1 victory.

Over the course of the ninety minutes, both sides will no doubt look back and rue some missed chances - Holland for not putting the game beyond doubt far earlier, and the Slovakia for not taking one of the handful of very good chances that would have brought them on level terms following Arjen Robben's excellent opener.

After Wesley Sneider added a second with little over five minutes remaining, Slovakia hit a last minute penalty but with no time to even restart the game it was to no avail.

Nigel de Jong again played the full ninety minutes, and managed to avoid a yellow card which would have ruled him out of the next game. He was his usual efficient self, coupled with Mark van Bommel providing a shield in front of a defence which has come under scrutiny in the media, if not on the pitch itself. 

Perhaps moving on to face Brazil, de Jong will come under greater pressure in what should be a big test with the attacking talent the Selecao possess, and we may well get to see more of the de Jong that we are so familiar with.

As for Vladimir Weiss, he earned a recall to the side after being left out of their final group game. Operating on the left, he had a bright start and made one or two penetrating runs but by and large struggled to make a huge impact - although he did tangle with de Jong (conceding a free kick in the process) towards the end of the game.

As mentioned, Brazil now move on to face Holland in Port Elizabeth on Friday afternoon.