South Africa v. Mexico

Over the next week or so I’m going to try to nail down a standard format for recapping games; today we’ll start like this:

South Africa 1–1 Mexico
RSA—Siphiwe Tshabalala (55th minute)
MEX—Rafael Márquez (79’)

My Take
A maurading Mexico failed to convert a host of chances in the first half and was punished early in the second when Tshabalala (great name) thumped an unstoppable strike past Mexico’s calamitous ’keeper. It gave the Bafana Bafana (the Boys, the South African team's nickname) a life and the entire nation the lead it craved. Tshabalala hit the ball so purely that anyone who’s ever played soccer felt a phantom reverberation in his own leg. I remember that same feeling when Clint Dempsey scored against Ghana in the 2006 World Cup; it was our only goal from the run of play in the whole tournament, but what a goal.

Tshabalala took inspiration from the goal and flitted around Mexico’s half looking for more; and his team continued to look dangerous on the counterattack. But Mexico had far more class on the field, and while Márquez’s goal came through an unfortunate defensive lapse, it was no less than the North Americans deserved. Both teams pressed for a winner, with Bafana Bafana coming closest, but the 1-1 draw seems a fair result for both teams and an promising start to World Cup 2010.

Men of the Match
RSA – Itumeleng Khune
The young goalkeeper was sensational. He made several acrobatic saves, commanded his area well (against an admittedly weak aerial team in Mexico), and bore no fault for Mexico’s equalizer. It was his distribution, however, that caught the eye, as he slung, sliced and side-volleyed his team to audacious counter attacks. His enthusiasm may have belied his youth (in-studio commentators, subject to a fraction of Khune’s adrenaline, took every chance to criticize his eagerness), but it was a great advertisement for intrepid underdogs.

MEX – Giovanni Dos Santos
I think Dos Santos is poised to have a big tournament. After leaving the nurturing confines of Barcelona, Dos Santos struggled to establish himself with Tottenham Hotspur. But he allegedly outgrew some of his youthful petulance on loan at Ipswich Town, and reports are he came into his own this year at Turkish super club Galatasaray. That growth was apparent today, as he looked every bit a player whose soccer education had paralleled Lionel Messi’s. He was all over the front third, creating space and chances. To be sure, he’s the poor man’s Messi, and the Catalan club held on to the correct diminutive playmaker. But a poor man’s Messi is still a rich asset, and I expect Dos Santos to give France fits next Thursday.