Diego Forlan Uruguay Spoils South Africa’s Bafana Bafana
Diego Forlan lived up to his hype and unraveled sheer football brilliance Wednesday night, as he powered Uruguay to an emphatic 3-0 victory over South Africa at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa.
Forlan, two-time Euro Golden Boot award winner, showcased bursts of speed and goal making ability to net the first two goals for Uruguay in what appeared to be a critical match in Group A.
Uruguay, two-time World Cup champion, was clearly the dominating team since the kick off as the South American applied baseline to baseline pressure on the host team.
As the result, Uruguay recorded 25 goal attempts (6 on goal), while the South African were only able to launch 14 goal attempts (3 on goals).
However, the story of the game was the aggressiveness of Forlan, who single-handedly changed the momentum of the game with his two beautiful goals.
Known for his incredible ball handling ability, Forlan slipped through the South African defense and fired a right-footed bullet shot from 30 yards out.
Forlan kicked the inside of the ball to create an astonishing velocity, leaving South African captain Aaron Mokoena and goaltender Itumeleng Khune stupefied.
After scoring his first goal in the World Cup since 2002, Forlan made a traditional after-the-goal rush around the field and was mobbed by his celebrating teammates.
Forlan’s goal in the 24th minute not only gave Uruguay 1-0 advantage before the half but as well changed the complexion of the entire match.
After halftime, South African came out aggressive and appeared to have recovered from Forlan’s heartbreaking goal in the first half.
South Africa continues to make solid plays, which led to Steven Pienaar goal opportunity in the 56th minute.
Pienaar made a solid kick in the right wing but the ball was deflected and the ball curled away from the target.
With both Uruguay and South African failing to breakdown each others’ defense, Forlan suddenly came alive again and geared up to another serious play in the last 15 minutes of the match.
As expected, Uruguay began to make plays again, leading to an opportunity for Luis Suarez to add more goals.
However, Khune roughed down Suarez and was given a red card due to his drastic actions.
Khune, arguably South Africa’s best goalkeeper over the past few years, was replaced Moeneeb Josephs, who unfortunately face Forlan in a penalty kick face-off.
Thousands of South African fans blew their trumpets to disrupt Forlan’s concentration, but Europe’s most prolific striker easily put the ball on the goal in the 80th minute.
With his second goal in the match, Forlan became the first player to score two goals in this year’s World Cup.
South Africa, which aims to advance in the knock-out stages, was completely devastated by Forlan’s second goal, as South African fans starting to leave the stadium one by one.
With the match all but sealed for Uruguay, Alvaro Pereira made a header in stoppage time to make it a 3-0 victory for the South American.
It was a much-needed win for Uruguay, which now took the leadership in Group A with 3 points.
South Africa, on the other hand, is facing the possibility of ending the host nation streak in the quadrennial soccer spectacle.
In the history of tournament, the host country has never failed to advance at least in the first knockout (final 16) stage of the World Cup.
However, chances are little for South Africa to extend its world cup campaign, when they face France – another former World Cup champion – in their last Group game.
Undoubtedly, Uruguay’s win will certainly add pressure on tomorrows match between Mexico and France.
Mexico played to a draw with South Africa in their match, while France went the same with Uruguay in the opening day of the 19th FIFA World Cup.
Tags: