And just like that the Bafana Bafana’s tournament hopes are over
And just like that the Bafana Bafana’s tournament hopes are over
By Eric Beard
I know, there’s one more game left to be played. But now that South Africa are sitting in last place of Group A with 1 point and a -3 goal differential, the Bafana Bafana, sadly, are finished. It was a tough match to watch because, like most neutrals, I am cheering on all of the African nations in this World Cup. That being said, all the credit in the world should go to a truly defiant Uruguay side led by class act Diego Forlan.
Forlan broke the deadlock in the first half with an ambitious shot that took a fortunate deflection off of Mokoena that caused the strike to tap the crossbar and beat a South Africa’s dumbfounded keeper, Khune. The story of the match is that while Uruguay played attacking, free-flowing football, which they did not do in their opening match against France, South Africa played much less attractive football than they did against Mexico. And just like against Mexico, South Africa started slow and had the game taken to them. The only difference is, this time, Uruguay capitalized. And, in my eyes, South Africa manager Parreira did not set up his starting XI to have a chance.
