Fantastic Forlan Fires Two Past Bafana Bafana!

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...

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.