Line ups:
South Africa -
South Africa
- 16 Khune
- 02 Gaxa
- 04 Mokoena
- 15 Thwala
- 20 Khumalo
- 08 Tshabalala
- 10 Pienaar
- 11 Modise
- 12 Letsholonyane
- 13 Dikgacoi
- 09 Katlego Mphela
Substitutes:
- 01 Josephs,
- 22 Walters,
- 03 Masilela,
- 05 Ngcongca,
- 14 Booth,
- 21 Siyabonga Sangweni,
- 06 Sibaya,
- 07 Davids,
- 19 Moriri,
- 23 Thanduyise Khuboni,
- 17 Parker,
- 18 Nomvethe
Mexico
- 01 Perez
- 02 Rodriguez
- 03 Salcido
- 04 Marquez
- 05 Osorio
- 12 Aguilar
- 16 Juarez
- 06 Torrado (Captain)
- 09 Franco
- 11 Vela
- 17 Giovani
Substitutes:
- 13 Ochoa,
- 23 Michel,
- 15 Moreno,
- 19 Magallon,
- 20 Torres,
- 07 Barrera,
- 08 Castro,
- 18 Guardado,
- 10 Blanco,
- 14 Hernandez,
- 21 Bautista,
- 22 Alberto Medina
Attendance: 84,000
Mexico's Rafael Marquez struck 12 minutes from time to deny hosts South Africa a winning start to the World Cup at Soccer City in Johannesburg.
Marquez controlled Andres Guardado's cross at the back post and rifled past Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune to ensure the spoils were shared after a breathless opening to the tournament.
The Mexicans were the better team throughout, but they fell behind when Siphiwe Tshabalala fired in a left-foot thunderbolt from an angle on the left to give the hosts a lead in which their supporters revelled.
In an atmosphere bordering on ecstasy in Johannesburg, Tshabalala's screamer threatened to provide the 19th World Cup with the fairytale beginning it was hoping for, before Marquez and Mexico intervened.
Even then, South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira saw his team almost snatch it in the dying moments, only for striker Katlego Mphela to agonisingly roll a shot against the post with keeper Oscar Perez beaten.
Yet over the 90 minutes, Parreira and his side were perhaps lucky to get away with a draw themselves in front of a partisan 84,490 crowd as Mexico failed to turn their startling superiority into victory.
For South Africa, the first African nation to host the footballing spectacular, what was supposed to be a day of celebration began with the announcement that the 13-year-old great-granddaughter of former president and icon Nelson Mandela had tragically died in a car crash on Thursday.
The 91-year-old Mandela stayed away from the opening ceremony - which preceded the game - to mourn, but through president Jacob Zuma, who declared the World Cup open, he asked people to "enjoy the game".
It is unlikely many of the South African fans enjoyed the first 54 minutes of their moment in the global footballing spotlight as their team were comprehensively outplayed by a Mexico side that knocked the ball around the gorgeous surface with consummate skill and ease.
With Giovani sitting in the hole behind Carlos Vela and Guillermo Franco, the Mexicans had weapons Bafana Bafana simply could not handle - and the movement of the front three quickly began to cause the hosts all kinds of havoc.
Khune was only spared the embarrassment of his early fumble costing a goal by Aaron Mokoena's reflex block to deny Giovani, before Franco headed a corner wastefully over.
South Africa were struggling to get out of their own half with any real consistency and former West Ham striker Franco was inadvertently keeping them in the contest, again heading off target when he should have done better and seeing another shot expertly saved by Khune.
Mpehla had been forced to feed off scraps until he was inches away from heading in Tshabalala's cross just before the break, but soon after the interval the world had the goal for which it had been waiting.
Tshabalala, a 25-year-old Soweto-born left winger for Kaizer Chiefs, wrote his name down in football folklore with a strike of such pure quality it almost took a second for him to realise what he had done.
Mexico were shell-shocked, but after Giovani's left-foot rocket was tipped away by Khune, up popped Marquez to slot in and quieten some of the vuvuzelas in the crowd.
Mphela's late flirtation with the woodwork only compounded the agony for the hosts, but their World Cup campaign remains very much alive.
All in all a decent opening game to the tournament. First half was largely dominated by Mexico and should have scored at least 2 or 3 goals but thanks to South Africa's keeper, Kuhne, they were closed out quite well despite some terrible defending.
The second game of the day was Uruguay and Ireland's "favourites", France in Cape Town.
Uruguay
- 01 Muslera
- 02 Lugano (Captain)
- 03 Godin
- 06 Victorino
- 16 Pereira
- 11 Pereira
- 15 Perez
- 17 Arevalo Rios
- 18 Gonzalez
- 09 Suarez
- 10 Forlan
Substitutes:
- 12 Castillo,
- 23 Silva,
- 04 Fucile,
- 19 Scotti,
- 22 Caceres,
- 05 Gargano,
- 08 Eguren,
- 14 Lodeiro,
- 20 Fernandez,
- 07 Cavani,
- 13 Abreu,
- 21 Sebastian Fernandez
France
- 01 Lloris
- 02 Sagna
- 03 Abidal
- 05 Gallas
- 13 Evra (Captain)
- 08 Gourcuff
- 14 Toulalan
- 19 Diaby
- 07 Ribery
- 10 Govou
- 21 Anelka
Substitutes:
- 16 Mandanda,
- 23 Carrasso,
- 04 Reveillere,
- 06 Planus,
- 17 Squillaci,
- 22 Clichy,
- 15 Malouda,
- 18 Diarra,
- 20 Valbuena,
- 09 Cisse,
- 11 Gignac,
- 12 Henry
Attendance: 64,000
France and Uruguay contested a truly awful goalless draw in the second match of the 2010 World Cup at the Cape Town Stadium.
The result ensured that both of the opening day Group A fixtures ended in draws - but there was much more to savour in South Africa's earlier game against Mexico.
The match in Cape Town never really got going; instead of sparking into life, it deteriorated into a largely forgettable contest only briefly illuminated by the occasional moment of trickery and skill.
In a game of few chances, Uruguay came closest to scoring through a Diego Forlan shot that was saved in the opening half, while they finished the contest with 10 men after substitute Nicolas Lodeiro picked up two bookings.
France were arguably the better team and might have snatched the points with a free-kick from a promising position deep into injury-time, but substitute Thierry Henry's strike hit the wall.
Both teams had laboured through qualification, requiring play-offs to reach South Africa, and their lack of fluency was clear to see.
France, who recently switched to a 4-3-3 formation, lost to China in their final warm-up game and were too ponderous in possession against La Celeste, with a lack of understanding undermining their efforts.
This was encapsulated in one move when Abou Diaby, surprisingly recalled in favour of Florent Malouda amid suggestions of a training ground row with manager Raymond Domenech, played a superb through ball for Sidney Govou.
But striker Nicolas Anelka, who made way for Henry with 20 minutes left, intercepted the pass after returning from an offside position and a promising opening was completely wasted.
Franck Ribery was an early threat down the left and his low cross after seven minutes should have been converted by Govou, while playmaker Yoann Gourcuff had few opportunities to showcase his skills - although he almost caught Fernando Muslera out with a free-kick from a tight angle on 17 minutes.
France's holding midfielder Jeremy Toulalan was reduced to trying his luck from more than 35 yards, while Uruguay's Diego Lugano mystified his team-mates by shooting at goal from deep inside his own half.
Toulalan was booked for a heavy tackle on Alvaro Pereira after 68 minutes and locked horns with Lugano seconds later. Domenech came on to the pitch to try to calm the situation, but at least it was something to rouse the crowd, leading to a brief cacophony of vuvuzela sounds.
Forlan, who forced an excellent first-half save from Hugo Lloris after cutting inside and shooting from 20 yards, was impressive for Uruguay.
The Atletico Madrid striker was alive with craft and invention, but he wasted a decent opening with 20 minutes left, shooting wide from 16 yards after a decent lay-off from Luis Suarez.
Striker Suarez, with 49 goals in 48 games for Ajax last season, was all too frequently caught offside, while playmaker Ignacio Gonzalez was a peripheral figure.
Uruguay coach Javier Aguirre brought on the highly rated Lodeiro in place of Gonzalez shortly after the restart, and Domenech replaced Gourcuff with Malouda.
Lodeiro's only mark on the game was arguably made on the ankle of Bakari Sagna as the Uruguayan picked up his second booking with 10 minutes to go.
Henry almost produced a moment of late drama with a header that glanced across the face of goal and had an appeal for a handball against Mauricio Victorino turned down as Uruguay held on.
All in all a truly awful and dull game with France looking hopeless at times. Perhaps the unsettled group of players hasn't quite settled yet since their arrival in South Africa.
Also how ironic of Henry to be claiming a handball in the box towards the end. :)
Here's hoping for a flurry of more goals tomorrow with three matches being played over the course of the day.
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