Bafana Bafana kicked off the second set of group games against fellow Group A opponents Uruguay in Pretoria last night. What made the game even more significant was the fact that it was actually a bank holiday in SA yesterday marking the anniversary of the Soweto uprising. This meant the streets were packed with green and gold supporters, all hoping for another upset against the team from South America. After a shock victory for the unfancied Swiss against one of the favourites Spain, Uruguay, also known as the Switzerland of Latin America, were hoping to replicate the real Switzerland's triumph from earlier in the day.
The stadium was packed to the rafters on what was a chilly night in Tshwane. As the South Africans began to gear up in the tunnel, by singing an old mining song that I've been hearing a lot lately, you could feel the sense of anticipation welling up in the stadium. South Africans are not stupid, they know that their team is not the best out there and realistically probably won't go all the way, but they have hope, faith and belief in their side. South Africans want their team to do well and many were predicting a 2-1 win last night. Unfortunately for Bafana Bafana and their fans, the vuvuzelas were silenced by the feet of one man: Diego Forlan.
Uruguay were a completely different side to the one we saw against France on Friday night. They were more adventurous going forward, they were able to create space and more importantly chances and were not perturbed by the raucous din that filled the Loftus Versveld stadium, a stadium in which previously, South Africa have remained unbeaten. Uruguay were able to take control and assumed the ascendancy as the first half wore on, largely thanks to former Man U forward, Diego Forlan. Forlan was playing just behind the two centre forwards, Suarez and Cavani - not his normal playing position but it was one that suited him well. Everywhere you looked, you saw Forlan. Seriously, he was all over the pitch - he was back there defending, down the wings, creating magic in the middle and going forward too. It really was him at the centre of virtually everything and SA were unable to find a way to contain the striker who has had so much success this season with Atletico Madrid.
And so it was Forlan, (who else?) that scored the first goal. Now this goal was something else! A right screamer of a shot. He got the ball 30 yards out, SA failed to close him down, he decided to take a shot from distance and it got a little deflection of Aaron Mokoena's head and landed sweetly into the back of the net, dipping at just the right time. I know people have been saying that the Jabulani is a difficult ball to control, but that was as sweet a control as I've seen in this tournament so far.
SA were unable to create much going forward. They were being run off the ball far too easily and didn't provide much of a threat to Muslera's goal. Tshabalala kept trying to shoot from distance, as he had done in the opening game, but was unable to find the back of the net this time. It was difficult for them to make any chances, and the ones they got, were often wasted by shooting from really far out, not really troubling Uruguay at all.
The second half was much the same, with yet more positive play by Uruguay. They had their chances too, but could not extend their lead. Suarez, who came into this tournament, on the back of a great goalscoring season with Ajax could not get himself a goal here against the hosts. His strike partner Cavani also missed some great chances. It was not until the 80 minute mark that they were given the opportunity to go 2-0 up. Suarez had run straight clear on goal and was brought down by the unfortunate South African keeper Khune, who had made some great stops against Mexico. Khune was subsequently red carded and replaced by SA's reserve keeper, Josephs. Pienaar was the one who had to make way. It took a while for Josephs to ready himself, before being thrown into immediate action as Forlan stepped up to take the penalty kick. Despite the wait, Forlan was able to smash the ball into the back of the net, with Josephs unable to keep it even though he dived the right way.
Although they were down to 10 men, SA actually saw most of the ball in the closing minutes but were unable to fashion any chances to get what seemed an unlikely draw. As they pushed forward to try and score, they were ultimately left open at the back, allowing Uruguay to score their third goal and thus kill the game off completely. It was Forlan again who orchestrated the move, passing to Suarez, who crossed the ball to Alvaro Perreira to head the ball in, deep into extra time.
For Bafana Bafana, it was a disappointing game which saw many supporters leaving once they were 2-0 down. It's clear to see that the country has high hopes and expectations for its team to do well as it's on home soil. And why not? I mean, they may not be the best team in the tournament, but South Korea were able to reach the semi-finals when they hosted it in 2002. However, their aim to qualify for the last 16 will be made much harder by the fact that they will be without Khune and also defender Dikgacoi, who got his second yellow card of the tournament, in their final group game. They will be coming up against 2006 finalists France, who play Mexico in the other Group A game this evening. SA will desperately try to conjure up the spirit of '95 when as total rank outsiders, François Pienaar and his rugby team were able to win the Rugby World Cup on home turf. Will this spirit be enough to get them through though? For Uruguay however, their dream of qualifying to the last 16 is definitely within touching distance...
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