South Africa 1, Mexico 1
With all due respect to Steven Pienaar, who was the most recognizable member of the South African national team (at least in this country) before today, given that he plays for Everton in the English Premier League, there was no better player to score the first goal of the 2010 World Cup than Siphiwe Tshabalala. From where I am for the first few days of the World Cup – not in South Africa, not quite in D.C., either – I wanted to run down the street screaming his last name as soon as he scored. Tshabalala!!!!! Total exhiliration, not just for South Africa, but for the absolute screamer of a goal, too.
Also impressed by South African goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune‘s presence in the box – the Mexican goal from the foot of Rafael Marquez was a direct result of marking errors. Nothing he could’ve done. Khune also had a nice save on Guillermo Franco in the first half.
Speaking of the Mexicans, how can they walk away with just one goal given how dominant Giovani Dos Santos was on the ball? If somebody wourld just run and work with him, Mexico will start finding the back of net a lot more often.
Last thing – note to ESPN broadcasters: please review the offside rule. Thanks.
France 0, Uruguay 0
I suppose any take on this game is a question of perception. Either Uruguay defended valiantly for the entire match, cutting off the France on chance after chance, even after they were reduced to ten men, or Uruguay played for one point from the opening whistle, and were only slightly more dismal than the French, who could never break them down.
Either way, we neeed to the nil-nil thing out of the way, and it was still a satisfactory appetizer for tomorrow, with the tournament hits the next gear.
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