It Begins...!!!

So: the day we have all been waiting for has finally arrived. The opening ceremony is over. The first match is over. And what a game it was!!!

In a packed Soccer City Stadium in Jo'burg, the opening ceremony was a festival of colour, passion, fun, exuberance and noise. It brought the feeling of excitement, that had been building up in the stomachs of all football fans for so many months, to life. There was this sense of anticipation, awe and real energy created by all the dancers and singers present at the ceremony. These days, we usually expect to see fireworks or some sort of pyrotechnics at these kinds of events, but South Africa didn't need fireworks to get the tournament off to a cracking start, the crowds of people and the vuvuzelas in particular did that for them! The noise was absolutely deafening but it just added to the African atmosphere. There were many important and famous people in the stadium. François Pienaar and Lucas Radebe joined the ITV team up in the stands. Sepp Blatter and the South African President, Jacob Zuma were out on the pitch to officially announce the start of the tournament. Unfortunately, due to the tragic death of his great granddaughter, former President and national hero, Nelson Mandela could not be present at the ceremony, but a pre-recorded video was played out to an audience of millions worldwide. The ceremony was truly special and depicted exactly what the World Cup means to South Africa: the Rainbow Nation united, Africa united and most importantly, world united.

As for the first match of the tournament: typically it was the host nation who played the first game, against Mexico. In the first half it looked like Mexico would spoil the party; they had the best part of the possession (61%) and the best chances. West Ham's Guillermo Franco missed two great chances from close range. Arsenal's Carlos Vela looked to have opened the scoring for this year's tournament, but his goal was ruled out for offside. South Africa's defending was poor but they made up for it with 2 minutes of the first half to go when they had a series of corners and chances, putting the Mexicans and the keeper Perez under a lot of pressure. Both sides went into half time 0-0, with Bafana Bafana the more optimistic of the two after that great end to the first half. It was this optimism and hope that propelled the South Africans to scoring the first goal of the tournament. I always thought that if South Africa were going to score, it would come on the break against the Mexicans. This is exactly what happened. They got hold of the ball in midfield and launched it down the left to the coolly named, Tshabalala who scored a screamer of a goal to really set the tournament alight. The goal sparked mass celebration amongst the crowd and the vuvuzelas reached an ear-splitting volume!!! Such euphoria and joy amongst the South Africans just made you want to celebrate and laugh along with them! So it came as a bit of a disappointment when Barcelona's Rafael Marquez managed to wheel away from the South African defenders, who lost concentration for a minute, and get the goal that levelled the game. There was a collective gasp when South Africa had a great chance to make it 2-1 - Mphela could only hit the post with just the keeper to beat. The game ended 1-1 but although the hosts weren't able to hold on for what would have been an incredible win, they can take heart from the fact that they were expected by many to lose today. A draw for Bafana Bafana is more than most would have hoped for and is no doubt a great start to their tournament hopes in their country.