Mexico Versus South Africa Game Kicks Off World Cup
June 11th, 2010 - 6:42 pm ICT by GDBy Meena Kar
Johannesburg, June 11, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The opening match of the world’s most watched and most anticipated sports event takes place tonight for the first time in African soil.
The two clashing teams include the host South Africa and the resilient Mexico. Fans all over the planet will be glued to their screens to absorb the atmosphere and the romance of the FIFA World Cup 2010.
The clash is crucial to the tournament because the host team has by far the greatest crowd support and their early loss could mean in a slight downfall in the local people’s interest. The more important factor for the Africans to remember is that no host country has ever failed to advance past the first round in a World Cup.
The group which also has France, might just be too hard to overtake unless the hosts can pull off a good start tonight. The country’s all time goal scorer Benni McCarthy has not been selected. This could be a concern for the team’s fans but the heartening fact is that Mamelodi Sundowns striker Katlego Mphela is on a roll as is evident from the recent friendlies.
As for Mexico, the team is at a crucial stage with the youngster settling into the side and the veterans adjusting with the new team.
With the likes of Carlos Salcido, the Mexican team may just appear too strong for the South Africans but crowd support and referee help has been helping host nations throughout the history of the World Cup.
The opening ceremony is also set to be a fabulous event that will see performances from the likes of Shakira and K’Naan.
- Bafana eager to show numbers mean nothing - Jun 10, 2010
- Can Bafana Bafana keep host streak alive? (Group A team profile) - May 26, 2010
- South Africa salvage pride with 2-1 over France as both exit - Jun 22, 2010
- Shakira is a hit in Mexico - Jul 18, 2011
- I hope my song captures unity of FIFA World Cup: singer K'Naan (Interview)(Lead) - Jul 05, 2010
- Hosts South Africa draw with Mexico in World Cup opener (Lead) - Jun 11, 2010
- Mexico and Uruguay poised to advance from Group A - Jun 21, 2010
- Blatter launches Fan Fest for 2010 World Cup - Dec 04, 2009
- Forlan double sends South Africa close to World Cup exit - Jun 17, 2010
- Parreira returns to a sceptical South Africa - Nov 05, 2009
- West Ham dump flop Proteas star McCarthy - Apr 13, 2011
- South Africa salvage pride with 2-1 over France; both exit (Lead) - Jun 22, 2010
- Somali singer K'Naan strikes a chord with Indians - Jul 05, 2010
- We are already winners: South African president - Jun 22, 2010
- World Cup organiser worried hosts might crash out in first round - Dec 02, 2009
Tags: african soil, benni mccarthy, carlos salcido, crowd support, fabulous event, fifa world cup, fifa world cup 2010, friendlies, goal scorer, history of the world cup, host country, host nations, host team, k naan, meena, south africans, sports event, sundowns, time goal, world cup 2010