Argentina have earned a hard-fought berth to the 2010 World Cup finals with a 1-0 victory in Uruguay on Thursday. Huracan midfielder Mario Bolatti scored his first international goal in the 84th minute to send Diego Maradona's team to South Africa automatically. Argentina finished in fourth place in the South American qualifying zone with 28 points, while fifth-placed Uruguay are pushed into a playoff tie with Costa Rica. Brazil, Chile and Paraguay have already booked their places in the South Africa finals. Honduras Qualify In the North American zone, Honduras made it to the World Cup finals for only the second time in their history, thanks to a 1-0 win over El Salvador. Veteran striker Carlos Pavon scored the desicive winner in San Salvador to send the North American outsiders to next year's big event. "We knew is would be a very tight game with an El Salvador team that is very well drilled, but that's football," said Honduras coach Reinaldo Rueda.
Slovakia qualify "Today it's the Honduras fans' and their team's turn to celebrate, thanks to the work of many years. "Now we have months of work, months of matches and let's hope this victory works out for the good of all." The Hondurans were much helped with Costa Rica's 2-2 draw in the USA, to finish third of the six-team table with 16 points. USA and Mexico have already reached the World Cup. In Europe, Switzerland and Slovakia booked places in South Africa, with the latter reaching the World Cup for the first time. Switzerland registered a goalless draw with Israel to finish top of Group 2, while Slovakia beat Poland away 1-0 to snatch top spot in Group 3. Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Ukraine finished second in their respective groups to join Bosnia, France, Ireland and Russia in the Playoffs.
