FIFA World Cup 2010 – South Africa vs France 2-0 half time report
France is on the verge of bettering their own record of world cup 2002, where they were eliminated from the world cup without scoring a single goal in the world cup. At that time it was Senegal, another African team, who beat them in a stunner. It can be termed as dejavu for them as once again it an African side ‘South Africa’ who have inflicted pain on the former world champions.
France started the game with their backs against the wall, hoping against hope that Mexico and Uruguay do not draw, and they manage to beat South Africa by a big margin. Little did they know that they will be on the receiving end of an African bashing?
French started the match trying to be positive right from the onset; the home side though had their own plans. The Europeans tried to attack a bit too prematurely and South Africa caught them on the counter numerous times.
TShabalala being the most dangerous man pouncing on every opportunity; however Cise who finally got a start in what looked to be a makeshift French line-up was very energetic up front. Cise put in a well weighted cross in the centre but there was no one on the receiving end.
Soon after he was on the receiving end of a cross but his header went wide, things were starting to look good for France. Domenech’s team felt they should have had a penalty when Bongani Khumalo handled the ball, but their appeals fell on deaf ears.
Siphiwe Tshabalala curled in a corner, and Bongani Khumalo pounced on to a ball missed by at least 2 players, to head home the opener, to the horror of the whole French team and their thousands of supporters. Though there were questions about did he head it or use his hand but he did not care.
Things got from bad to worse for France as Yoan Gourcuff was shown a red card, following an aerial challenge against MacBeth Sibaya. Colombian referee Oscar Ruiz had no hesitation in sending him off.
But if they thought this was the end of problems they were deeply mistaken A dangerous cross hit Abou Diaby and fell in the path of Katlego Mphela who tapped it home for 2-0. On the other end Uruguay are one nil up at half time, so we may be in for a fairytale comeback story, but next 45 minutes would determine if it is a happy ending for South Africa.
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