Coach Ricki Herbert would have it described as the most important goal in the history of the round ball code in New Zealand, but Reid, who only committed to the All Whites three months ago, tried to play down his effort.

"I try to get forward, but not often do I score. Today it was great," he said.

"I didn't see the ball until late and then I saw it was coming towards me I knew if I got it on goal, then not hit it so hard it would go in. I was just trying to guide it."

Herbert said it would be a tremendous boost for Reid's confidence, as he looks to establish himself as a New Zealand international after turning his back on Denmark, where he plays his club football.

"He will be rapt tonight and it's a special moment to score for your country at the World Cup," Herbert said.

"He has been a great coup for us - he is only a young buck and no doubt at international level he will progress but he has got a great heart and a great will and he slotted into the team very well."

It's an amazing transformation for a player who when New Zealand qualified for the World Cup on that memorable night in Wellington in November, was playing Under-21 football for Denmark and could not have dreamed he would be a hero for the country of his birth and secure its first World Cup point.

"Obviously, I was playing for the Under-21s in Denmark and I thought to myself it would be a couple of years before I can go onto the national team there," he said.

"I just tried to do my work and continue my development as a football player.

"Of course, you wonder if it's the right move. I was weighing my options up at the end of the day I feel that I have made the right decision not because of the goal, but the feeling have got around the team, and the way the coaching staff have helped me,

"I think it's important for New Zealand that we have success here. Something that we can go on with."

The new kid in town only made his debut on May 24 against Australia in Melbourne. He said the transition into the World Cup team at such a late stage of preparation wasn't easy.

"I'm just trying to do my best with the rest of the team," he said. 

"Tommy [Smith] and I are new to the team, and it's important for myself to get to the team and get into the rhythm. I've come late into the team, so I want to do my best.

"It was difficult for me in the beginning, I was new to the team and wanted to feel my way into it. I'm pretty quiet, so it's a matter of feeling it."

Feeling it very much was Herbert, who could barely wipe the smile of his face after Reid's late effort. Ever the master of keeping his apprentices in check, he couldn't resist a swipe at Reid for his mistake which led to Slovakia's goal early in the second half.

"It was a good finish and he redeemed himself for getting on the wrong side of the Slovakian striker when they scored," he said.

Reid admitted he could have done better after losing touch with his man, Robert Vittek, who pounced on the cross and scored.

"It was a good cross. The attacker was in an offside position, then I let him go and stepped back , the ball went just over my head, so of course I should have done better but it was a good cross and a good goal," he said.

However, his powerful header in injury time will ensure nobody aside from Herbert will remember the first goal of the match. Instead, they remember Reid who scored the most significant goal in the history of NZ football.