2010 World Cup: South Africa v Uruguay full time report
South Africa 0 Uruguay 3
Host nation South Africa’s dreams of making it through to the second round of the World Cup have faded thanks to a brace from Uruguay’s hit-man Diego Forlan and a late strike from Alvaro Perriera.
Forlan opened the scoring just before the break with a fantastic 30 yard strike and secured the win with a well taken penalty following a foul on Luis Suarez by South Africa goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune. The keeper was given a straight red card as he was the last man, the fifth dismissal of the World Cup already. Perriera added a late third but the game was far from over well before his late strike.
From the first whistle Uruguay dominated proceedings and despite creating some decent openings early on they had to wait until the 24th minute before taking the lead, and what a goal it was.
Picking the ball up from 30 yards out, Forlan dampened the argument that top players were having problems striking the World Cup ball by planting an absolute rocket of a strike past Khune in the South African goal. The ball did seem to take a slight deflection as it flew in off the crossbar, but take nothing away from the former Manchester United striker, this was a moment of genius.
Not even the surprise factor could inspire the South Africans, substitute Surprise Moriri that is. He failed to ignite any spark in the Bafana Bafana midfield following his arrival at half-time and Uruguay continued to look the more threatening side going forward after the break. Captain Diego Lugano should have done better with a free header from a Forlan set piece and Maxi Pereira fired over from the edge of the box with Suarez free in the middle.
Forlan was proving a real thorn in the South African back line, playing just behind the front two he continued to find space and provide Suarez and Edinson Cavani with some first class ammunition. It was a shame for Uruguay that it was not Forlan on the end of the service, as both Cavani and Suarez continued to waste chances.
The hosts nearly took advantage of Uruguay’s inability to see out the game as they put together a good spell of pressure with a quarter of an hour to go, but any hopes of a South African comeback were squashed with 15 minutes remaining as goalkeeper Khune fouled Suarez in the box.
Khune was rightly dismissed as he was the last man, and Forlan stepped up to blast the ball past substitute goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs for his second of the evening.
Forlan wasn’t finished yet though as he played a huge part in the final goal, his cross field pass released Suarez who cut the ball back to Perriera who couldn’t miss from three yards out.
The result leaves Uruguay top of the table with four points, and South Africa will need a minor miracle in order to qualify as they face France in their last game.
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