Fox You Forest Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Decent game and probably a fair result. Reckon the lad on the opposite wing should have been MOTM though, Modise.
dandannieldanok Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Two good attacking sides and a decent 1st game. South Africa have been a breath of fresh air. Yea, put up a far better performance than I thought they were capable of. Hopefully they can cause France a few problems.
Guest DavidJCW Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Excellent stuff!! Great start to the World Cup. I had it down as a 1-0 win to South Africa, don't know why, just thought they'd win with home advantage and the passion which would, and did, come with the first game. However, some dodgy defending to say the least let SA down. Thing is though, I think they could do France! Give it some real welly and go for it, sure up at the back somewhat and you never know!
lcfc"weasel" Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 People are underestimating the French. This, my dads just said to me, i reckon uruguay will stuff france tonight
CosbehFox Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 People are underestimating the French. Says a lot though if Desailly is already criticising them. Really didn't find the horn's a problem (that said I have been to a Speedway meeting where the same sound is replicated with air horns for 3 hours) and the ref let the game flow. Both teams looked poor at the back but decent up top. Good game to start off with.
morris1234 Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 great game! and two very good finishes, especially the first! weve all caught a ball like that once or twice before and the feeling as it leaves your foot is brilliant!! i thought south africa played really well and threatened despite playing one up top. little dissapointed with pienaar behind the front man but the two wingers were brilliant and if the striker mphela(sp) let it run across his body a bit more rather than heading straight back, they would have been in a bit more. mexico just lacked the cutting edge, dos santos was brilliant but franco, hernandez and blanco were poor. good game - but..........god i hate adrian chiles!
Narborough_fox Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Didn't france lose to someone cr@p in the build up?
dandannieldanok Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 People are underestimating the French. To be fair even the French players are admitting they're playing poorly as a unit. I don't see them going out at the group stage but I can't see them getting too far unless they suddenly click.
DB11 Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Grrr I have the South Africa goalkeeper in my fantasy football side
CosbehFox Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Didn't france lose to someone cr@p in the build up? Yes, China.
lildave3 Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 People are underestimating the French. Don't think they'll do much at all. Can't see them losing tonight, but Forlan and Suarez might give them a scare... Grrr I have the South Africa goalkeeper in my fantasy football side Why?!
Webbo Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 To be fair even the French players are admitting they're playing poorly as a unit. I don't see them going out at the group stage but I can't see them getting too far unless they suddenly click. Doesn't their manager use astrology to pick the team?
DB11 Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Why?! Didn't have much money left with a strike partnership of Rooney, Villa and Van Persie and so had to go cheap and I thought the host nation would keep it tight at the back
dandannieldanok Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Doesn't their manager use astrology to pick the team? Probably , he definitely does believe in it because he was ridiculed nationwide in France for it. I'm absolutely amazed Domenech has lasted this long, nobody in France wants him. Lived off France's run to the 2006 final for too long.
Edmund Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 People are underestimating the French. It's understandable though. They may be a good team on paper but they are the jeckyll and hyde side of the world cup. Also their manager is leaving after the world cup, not really great timing to be honest. Saying that, on their they day they can perform but it just depends which France turns up. As for the vuvuzela they were no way as bad as they were in the confederations cup and that was on surround sound in the pub. They definitely turned the crowd mics down this time.
MC Prussian Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Stil wanted that goal to count. Obviously the goalkeeper counts as an outfield player during standards, thus putting the Mexican into offside. Bloody rules. Blanco was a shadow of his past - he shouldn't have played at all. At 36/37, he was VERY slow, the heavy feet showed and no asset to the away team today. I found Dos Santos the best player on the pitch, particularely in the first half, where he was an ever-present threat. The whole Mexican side faded in the second period, though. Oh, and the Uzbeki referee - one of the best I've ever seen. Very fair calls and let the game flow in most cases.
lildave3 Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Didn't have much money left with a strike partnership of Rooney, Villa and Van Persie and so had to go cheap and I thought the host nation would keep it tight at the back Incredibly ambitious. I think you'd be better off with a third choice keeper who has no chance of losing any points
shen Posted 11 June 2010 Posted 11 June 2010 Stil wanted that goal to count. Obviously the goalkeeper counts as an outfield player during standards, thus putting the Mexican into offside. Bloody rules. Blanco was a shadow of his past - he shouldn't have played at all. At 36/37, he was VERY slow, the heavy feet showed and no asset to the away team today. I found Dos Santos the best player on the pitch, particularely in the first half, where he was an ever-present threat. The whole Mexican side faded in the second period, though. Oh, and the Uzbeki referee - one of the best I've ever seen. Very fair calls and let the game flow in most cases. Absolutely, although the decision not to award Modise (?) a penalty shortly after SAs goal was a mistake. Marquez was clearly pushing him down with his arm. Blanco was embarrassing, while Guardado had a dreadful game as well bar his assist. The match (and the first half of Uru - France) confirms that the ball behaves oddly, especially from long passes. Did you notice how many times the ball would bounce over the heads of the Mexican players on a long ball or cross-field pass??
martyn Posted 12 June 2010 Posted 12 June 2010 Mexico lack a top striker to finish off their good work. Agree about Blanco, he just can't influence games enough at this level anymore, they should have introduced Hernandez and probably Pablo Barrera earlier and they could have had joy against a tiring defence. Judging by France and Uruguay however, Mexico would be my favourites to top the group, IF they can somehow find a way to be more clinical. Referee was fantastic as well.
Jordan Posted 12 June 2010 Posted 12 June 2010 Blanco was the best Mexican on the ball besides Giovani. He can't play forward anymore because that would mean he has to run back with the defenders so he doesn't get stuck offside. All he does is just stand in one place and make tidy passes. Don't get me wrong, I can't stand the guy, but it's hilarious-in-a-good-way watching him play; I bet he'd dominate in 5-a-side. South Africa looked terrible in the first 35 minutes--I'm not sure I've seen a team at the World Cup look so clueless trying to make runs off the ball. Eventually, their wing backs learned what an "overlapping run" is and they started to stretch the game out a bit more. This was a big blow to Mexico; El Tri were dominant early on and completely owned the right wing but Aguilar did everything but find a teammate with his final balls. I don't know if it was a lack of cutting edge on the crosses or just a terrible performance by the forwards (if I'm Aguirre, I sit Vela's useless ass on the bench next game) that killed Mexico's attack, but hey, at least they had comfortable possession. Once South Africa turned the game into a track meet, though, Mexico were reeling and while Tshambalala (epic name) scored a beautiful goal off of a great counterattack, it wasn't necessarily such a surprising goal considering the 5-10 minutes that preceded it. No excuses for the awful defending on Marquez's equalizer, though... I know Aguirre might be an Oswaldo Sanchez fanboy, but Sanchez didn't exactly inspire much confidence in his defense flapping around the box and he looked absolutely foolish when Mphela hit the post at the end. I think Ochoa is a much better keeper and I wonder if he'll get a run out at some point. Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't second the praise about sensational offside call on Giovani's disallowed goal--linesman, take a bow. I watched the game with a few Irishmen and Englishmen and it was really funny trying to explain the nuances of the offside rule and why that was a good call to them... funnier still explaining it to an Ecuadorian customer at my bank in our parking lot while I was standing inside on either side of the window U.N. translators, eat your hearts out. Yes, I made sure to pick Friday as the day I showed up later this week, and of course he picked the time between the two games to do his banking. Good lord, I love the World Cup...
shen Posted 12 June 2010 Posted 12 June 2010 Blanco was the best Mexican on the ball besides Giovani. He can't play forward anymore because that would mean he has to run back with the defenders so he doesn't get stuck offside. All he does is just stand in one place and make tidy passes. Don't get me wrong, I can't stand the guy, but it's hilarious-in-a-good-way watching him play; I bet he'd dominate in 5-a-side. The most telling moment for me was when he horribly miscontrolled an easy ball by about 10-15 yards on the half way line, giving away possession and starting a SA counterattack in the process
Zingari Posted 13 June 2010 Posted 13 June 2010 Call me a cycnical old so and so ("you cynical old so and so") but I'm sick of hearing the Vuvuzelas already and the tournament hasn't even kicked off yet.. I hope all the England fans out there have taken their rattles and will be heard above the din. I'm also getting pretty sick of the media creaming itself about South Africa hosting the tournament. I know it's "a first" and that it's politically correct to worship the ground that Mandela and the ANC walk on, but the USA didn't get the same sort of media love in when they hosted it for the first time. So I'd just love it for Mexico to stuff them this afternoon. I shall be wearing my Mexico 1970 shirt and keeping my fingers crossed. Apart from that, c'mon England! maybe some sense at last South Africa ponders vuvuzela ban http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8737455.stm
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