Host Nation's World Cup Armchair Diary: Day One

After what felt like an eternity in waiting, World Cup fever has once again run wild, and in lieu of actual tickets to South Africa, I'll be posting my thoughts on the games and the tournament as a whole right here on everybody's favourite ghost-town blog!



As with Germany 2006 (and in my opinion, should always have been the case), the hosts kicked things off against Mexico. Group A has the potential to be one of the most interesting and closely-fought of the eight first round pools, with otherwise unfancied South Africa taking the seeded slot usually reserved for a highly-ranked nation as the hosts.

Alongside them, a Uruguay side fortunate to have even qualified after scraping past Costa Rica in a intercontinental play-off, a France side even more fortunate to qualify after the infamous 'Hand of Spud' against the Irish Republic, and a Mexican side who've struggled for decades to realise their full potential.

Much like they had in a pre-tournament friendly against England, the Mexicans looked extremely capable going forward and really should have taken the lead on at least three occasions. Ex-West Ham forward Guillermo Franco was too slow to react in one particular point blank scenario where surely a Vela or Hernandez would have fired into the net before the ball had even bounced.

Home captain Aaron Mokoena, currently playing for relegated Portsmouth, produced a fantastic block to deny Giovani Dos Santos but aside from the skipper leading by example the South African defence looked naive and liable to break down at any moment.

Thankfully for them, and for the partisan crowd at Soccer City, their direct counter-attacking play put the defensive collapse on hold.

In a goal worthy of beginning what should be a month-long feast, the hosts broke free of an early Mexican attack minutes after half-time, and after their rare moments in control during the first half all resulted in mis-placed and over-shot passes, they finally got it right with a picture perfect and lightning fast move culminating in Siphiwe Tshabalala finishing superbly in the far corner.

And unlike the opening 45, not only were Bafana Bafana keeping their opponents out of their goal, they were at times the most likely to score again on occasion.

However, the Mexican attacking drive throughout the game did deserve a goal, and they got it late on in unspectacular fashion as that SA back line dropped on cue and left Barcelona's Rafael Marquez unmarked to convert a delivery from close range and provide temporary respite from the defeaning sea of vuvuzelas.

As frustrating a draw is for all parties, particularly the viewership in the opening game of the tournament, it was definitely the fair result between a side who if not for their jigsaw-like qualities in the box could have won 4-0 and a host nation who picked their moment in wonderful fashion, only for their biggest weakness all game to strike in the dying moments.

The important thing was that the world got the enjoyable and entertaining start to the tournament they hoped for - unfortunately, it ended abruptly in game two later that evening.

The draw in the opener served as the opportunity of a lifetime for France and Uruguay, two sides who made it to South Africa by the skin of their teeth. You'd have thought that at least one of them would have felt the wind blowing in their direction and gone for the advantage in Group A. You'd be wrong.

The first half itself was a chore to watch. French boss Raymond Domenech dropped Florent Malouda after a training ground row as well as talisman Thierry Henry and Andre-Pierre Gignac, a key figure for Domenech in the qualification fixtures, in favour of a front three consisting of Franck Ribery in the midst of his worst-ever spell both on and off the pitch, a Nicholas Anelka who seemed to be trying too hard in his first and probably only World Cup finals, and an over-the-hill Sidney Govou who just couldn't make it happen.

Meanwhile, 49-goal Ajax man Luis Suarez was a shadow of his usual self and Diego Forlan appeared to be too busy dropping back to try and kick-start his midfield supply line to actually have as many cracks at goal as he does at Athletico Madrid.

Fortunately, the game picked up ever so slightly in the second half, though only to incorporate a couple more chances (including what should have been a goal from Forlan), a crazy sending-off for substitute Nicolas Lodeiro who managed to squeeze in a petulant reaction to a decision and an apalling studs lunge into his short time on the pitch, and the amusing sight of Thierry Henry appealing for a handball which looked like nothing more than ball-to-hand.

So at the end of day one Group A was how it started, no clearer to predict than it was before. Hopefully it'll lead to some interesting games during the week as the hosts entertain Uruguay and France do battle with Mexico. In the worst case, we'll be in for even more draws and even less goals.

I'd imagine that the combination of Forlan and the South African defence will prevent this from becoming reality, however.

OVERVIEW:

Group A, 15:00 GMT
South Africa 1-1 Mexico (Tshabalala 55; Marquez 79) - Host Rating: 7.5/10

Group A, 19:30 GMT
Uruguay 0-0 France (Lodeiro sent off 81) - Host Rating: 3/10

Join me tomorrow for a recap of THREE world cup games, as Group B play out their opening games and Group C begins with England taking on the United States!