Quick points on South Africa-Mexico

by Steve Davis on Jun 11, 2010 12:16 PM EDT

South African star Steven Pienaar struggled to offer much to the home team's attack.

Some quick points to ponder on an opener that made pulses race, even if it wasn’t always the best of quality.

– I really like the way Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov made the players behave. An early yellow card to Mexico for delaying a restart will put other teams on notice, which will help make for a better tourney.

– Same old Mexico, a team that just can’t keep its eye on the bigger prize. As soon as South Africa struck against the run of play, Gerardo Torrado picked up a needless, dunder-headed yellow card. He was looking to exact a little physical retribution rather than leading by example and remaining focused on getting the equalizer and, perhaps, the eventual winner. Too bad, too, because Mexico has some great young players, as we saw.

– None of us can imagine how much pressure is on the South Africans, desperate to lift a hopeful nation. Sure enough, Bafana Bafana looked overwhelmed by the moment in the first half. Transition into offense was labored. Nervous legs didn’t seem to step into Mexican passes when the opportunities begged, and too many Bafana passes lacked authority. They often looked like a golfer with the yips, unable to loosen the muscles enough to nail the short putts. They did look better after the break.

– Cuauhtemoc Blanco is 37. He looked 47. For those who believe Mexican soccer is overly touched by politics, Blanco’s inclusion looked like Exhibit A on Friday.

Tweet Comment 9 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Blanco did indeed look like a middle-aged fan wearing an ill-fitting replica jersey, rather than a player.

"My face is my mask."

by Jake Shapiro on Jun 11, 2010 12:22 PM EDT reply actions

Mexico

It’s always the same thing with them, isn’t it? High skill on the ball, decent speed, good ideas, but they lack 2 crucial ingredients: A truly quality goalscorer and the right mentality to handle adversity. The first one is a fairly straightforward problem, since they create chances but either blow the finish or lack the hunger to go after the ball with everything they’ve got.

The second one is the bigger problem, though. When Mexico has a call go against them, or they dominate play but get no goals out of it, or give up a goal against the run of play, it always takes them 15-20 minutes to pull it together. Seeing Torrado pick up that card after the goal was as predictable as the sun coming up this morning. El Tri then spent a long spell with aimless possession, totally devoid of ideas or urgency. If it wasn’t for that botched trap (should teams be trying the offside trap considering the difficulty of communicating over the vuvuzelas?), I don’t see Mexico creating anything. That goal came from a hopeful ball followed by bad defending; it was not Mexico slicing Bafana Bafana apart with slick passing and incisive movement.

Mexico will have to be much better against both Uruguay (anyone else think that game becomes a cardfest?) and France, or they’re not going to get a win against anyone.

Black and Red United

by ChestRockwell on Jun 11, 2010 12:27 PM EDT reply actions

They don't lack a quality goal scorer

but they only gave him 20 minutes. Hernandez has been in great goal scoring form both in the Mexican league and in the build up to the World Cup. He is considered a once in a generation type talent and Mexico looked like a different team as soon as he hit the pitch. Also, Carlos Vela is a pretty good striker. He was just played way out of position.

"We love them, We mourn for them, Unlucky boys of Red" - Morrissey
"Giggs gets past Viera, past Dixon, who comes back at him, it's a wonderful run from GIGGS!!!" - Martin Tyler
"He's got a man deep..wait, no that IS Mandeep!!" - Don Taylor

by Section 312 on Jun 11, 2010 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I like the way Mexico played today- they got hit by a world class counter a couple of times

South Africa didn’t do much well, but the counterattack was very simple and very good. However, Blanco played awful. I’m not sure what he does on the field except slow down a young, explosive team. That half-Brazilian kid is dynamite, and was denied on a pretty amazing save. Hernandez got pushed out of the play a couple of times, as he’s a bit small, but you can see what everyone is talking about. It’s going to be a challenge for Mexico to advance, unless France falls apart like everyone seems to think they will.

"Voetbal is pas totaal als je wint"- Coach Adun
"The greatest sin is to spurn the gift"- Coach Alistair

by Londonjoe on Jun 11, 2010 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I think France and Mexico will still go through

France was much better than Uruguay today and just need to find a bit more sharpness in the final third. If Mexico can get points off Uruguay then they should go through. The only speed bump I can see is if these teams let South Africa hang around. The longer they feel like they have a chance the tougher they will become.

by Section 312 on Jun 11, 2010 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions