South African fans are ready to go!

Yesterday, I was trapped on the Tri-Rail commuter train, between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, along with several other passengers, by a very large woman of Haitian descent who was preaching that Jesus was coming and the world would end soon.  Most of my co-passengers were visibly disturbed by the loud and feverish rantings of our personal evangeline.  As for me, I couldn’t help but smile.  She’d obviously gotten her facts wrong.

By all accounts that I’ve heard, Jesus is loving merciful and just.  If that’s true, then we can all breathe easy;  there’s no armageddon scheduled for at least another month.  And if there is, well, I’d rather be doing nothing else when the end comes than watching the World Cup.

Blatter politicking, Zuma looking good

To that end, my decidedly anti-morning self awoke cheerfully at 6 am this morning and set about clearing the deck of all non-football activities before the 9.30 kickoff of South Africa v Mexico.  Of course, like all sporting spectacles attended by noted dignitaries, that actually tranlated to a 10.00 start to play.  In the meantime, I did my best to patiently listen to Sepp Blatter and a styling Jacob Zuma get in their 2 rand.  They carried on gamely even though the chorus of vuvuzelas never let up.

Tactically, it was an interesting but sensible note that Matthew Booth, the towering centre back was not in the line up against the tiny and quick Mexicans.  Both sides started nervously, although the Tres Colores held most of the possession for the first 8 minutes.

Dos Santos rushed a chance at goal after Khune, the Bafana Bafana keeper, muffed a low cross and got tangled with a defender.  A settling touch with time to spare would have given the Central Americans a devastating early lead.  His butterflies got the better of him, however.  After the initial dominance of Mexico, the South Africans began to settle in, having repeated success advancing the ball up the left wing and then working it across the top of the box.

Late on in the half, the Mexicans again found their stride but missed several strong chances to go at least one up.  Arenal’s Carlos Vela appeared to have scored from a corner but was correctly ruled offside.  There was a defender hugging the post but he was the only player behind the ball; it matters not, as it turns out, whether or no the second defender behind the ball is in fact the goal keeper.  While the rest of us were lining up to volunteer for a lynch mob, it turned out the officials had it exactly right.   Chalk up an early credit for Sepp Blatter’s diversity program, starting the African tournament with an Uzbeki referee.

Short balls seem to be the path to take for both sides.  The combination of altitude and the Jabalani ball are carrying long passes and shots well beyond their intended targets.  Despite all the complaints and the prevailing opinion, it would appear that the technologically  advanced new ball is actually beneficial to the goalkeepers, with its lack of dip in the high country, and detrimental to the shooters.

The first half ended scoreless but not uneventful.  Jonathan dos Santos has made several entertaining runs for the visitors and Steven Pienaar has orchestrated some dangerous opportunities for the home side.

Tepid play was the recipe in the opening minutes of the second stanza, until Siphiwe Tshabalala, streaking down the left of midfield, latched onto a well played ball and absolutely buried his shot behind Oscar Perez.

Bafana Bafana have better voices than Martin Tyler, to be sure

Martin Tyler, for the most part an improvement over the usual American announcers on ESPN, laid a complete egg with his tone deaf doo wop call on the goal <Shaba- La-la-la-la-la>.  Moments later, though, he completely redeemed himself with a wonderful metaphor, noting that “Mexico’s opening day had turned as black as their shirts.”

Trailing, Javier Aguirre quickly looked to his bench, summoning his aging number 10, Cuathomec Blanco.  Again Tyler was quick to notice the veteran’s lack of pace and highly visible love handles.  Chubby people really shouldn’t wear black.  Still, the veteran, late of the Chicago Fire, quickly made apparent why he was on the field, stringing together a series of incisive passes that split a fragile South African central defense.  Then, from a harmless corner, the Bafana Bafana back line broke down and Rafael Marquez, alone on the far post, stuffed in the equalizer.  The match was knotted at one apiece.

Pudgy, slow of foot but effective

In the waning moments, South Africa almost struck twice for the victory but couldn’t find the goal.  Meanwhile, Blanco kept finding dos Santos and young ManU signing Javier Hernandez in the box.  If fat and slow is that effective at the World Cup, I’m sold.  Pass me the donuts!

A draw is how it would end, however, and deservedly for both clubs.

After lunch it was on to Capetown for the second half of the double bill, the France/Uruguay showdown.  This one was a complete snorer.  Raymond Domenech left the energetic Florent Malouda on the bench in favor of the more powerful Abou Diaby.  His counterpart, Oscar Tabarez, is rumored to be set to star in a South American remake of the classic comedy, On The Buses.  For the whole match, the sky blue shirts parked five defenders on the back line with two midfielders directly in front of them to further crowd the box.

Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, 77 club goals between them, were virtually marooned up front.  The Atletico man did force a spectacular save from young Hugo Lloris in the 16th minute, curling a dipping shot across goal from the corner of the 18 yard box.  At seaside, it seems, the Jabalani is much more of a threat.  That was the extent of the offense on offer for most of the match, though.  In an apparent effort to stay involved in the game, Forlan began taking free kicks from the center of the pitch rather than vainly waiting to latch onto the other end of any such opportunities.

Lodeira can't believe it himself!

Uruguay’s youthful starlet, Nicolas Lodeiro, came on late for what turned out to be a very brief World Cup debut.  An ill advised and horribly late studs up tackle caught France’s right back, Bacary Sagna, on the calf, earning the youngster a well deserved red card in the 80th minute.

With the stubborn South Americans down to 10 men, Domenech finally sent on Malouda and Gignac after having already switched out Anelka for Thierry Henry.  Loaded for bear, the French began to get in behind the Uruguayans but were unable to finish.  A last gasp free kick, generously awarded to Diaby by the Japanese referee, was looped into the wall by Henry.  The possible new Red Bull signing also showed his cheeky side, audaciously raising his arm for a hand ball after a French volley was unintentionally  deflected off the chest and bicep of an Uruguayan defender.  Of all the people on hand to make such a claim!

The five man sky blue wall held up for the South Americans, however, and Group A remains completely open, each team holding one point with two games remaining.

Tomorrow, there will be three matches, including the debut of the Argentines and the massively hyped England/USA encounter.  Matt Dalton will be keeping the WFC World Cup Diary for Saturday’s Matchday 2 action and Sunday will be Geoff Edward’s turn to host, with Germany on tap.  Enjoy all the weekend matches!