South Africa Humiliated By Uruguay

Pin It Now! The Bafana Bafana of South Africa got the beating of their lives this evening in their second group A match, losing by a whooping 3-0 margin to Uruguay, in what could best be described as a one-sided game.

Diego Forlan scored a brace to put the game beyond the South Africans, and also making him to top the goal scorers table, with 2 goals in 2 matches (an average of a goal per match).

The Bafana Bafana seemed ready to carry the day in the early minutes of the first half, getting their first corner as early as in the 4th minute, though they didn’t make good use of it. But the Uruguayans fought back immediately, getting a free kick in the 5th minute, which was taken close to 18 yard box. The ball went straight to Steven Pienaar’s hand, and the centre referee flashed a yellow in his face.

Diego Forlan silenced the South African fans for the first time in the 24th minute, with his volley from outside the yard box that sailed right into the net, beating goal keeper Itumeleng Khune hands down. The host team tried to fight back but they could not change anything as the Uruguayans kept attacking furiously, thereby causing them to make several mistakes. Particularly guilty of several inaccurate passes and rough tackles was Steven Pienaar, who could not reproduce those beautiful flashes and fast paces he’s known to produce in Everton. In the 33rd minute, Luis Suarez came close to increasing the goal tally for the visitors, but his shot hit the back side of the net. In the 43rd minute, Dikgacoi Kagisho received a yellow card for his rough tackle.

The first half ended 1-0 in favour of the South Americans. Uruguay produced more soccer fires in the second half, making South Africa look ordinary, chasing the ball from one part of the pitch to the other. Edinson Cavano missed yet another chance to seal victory for Uruguay in the 49th and 68th minutes respectively. Katlego Mphela’s header narrowly missed the goal post in the 66th minute, losing the chance to equalize the game.

Jorge Fucile got injured in the 71st minute and was replaced by Alvaro Fernandez. In the 79th minute however, the rampaging Luis Suarez was brought down in the 6 yard box by goal keeper Itumeleng Khune for a penalty. The goal keeper was shown the red card. Steven Pienaar was pulled out for Reserve goal keeper Moneeb Joseph. The penalty was cleverly converted by Diego Forlan for uruguay’s second goal.

The last straw that broke the camel’s back came in the 5th minute of added time when Alvaro Pereira scored the 3rd goal to completely wrap up the game for the South Americans. Diego Forlan was voted ‘Man of the match’. South Africa now has a Herculean task to try to qualify from their group. It means they have to beat former champions France convincingly in their next match to have any hope of advancing into the second round. Coach Alberto Parreira was close to tears as the referee sounded the final whistle. However, Coach Oscar Tabarez was very happy with the impressive result posted by his lads.

South Africa Humiliated By Uruguay