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World Cup kickoff weekend brought tears of joy and tears of pain for a whole host of fans - here's a roundup of the action, with a look at who's made headlines for the right reasons, and who's wishing they never made the trip in the first place.
SA vs Mexico: SA 1 - Mex 1
A stellar kickoff to the 2010 World Cup, with Mexico dominating much of the first half. Bafana came back beautifully in the second half to score first, but allowed Mexico back into the game with a soft goal.
Who's hot:
Siphiwe Tshabalala - South Africa's less than likely goalscorer blasted one in on 55 minutes, a cracking left foot drive to the top corner.
Rafael Marquez - Mexico's stalwart took advantage of a poor defensive lapse to bring the visitors level.
Giovani dos Santos - Mexico's wingman made mincemeat of South Africa's poor close marking with piercing runs down the right side.
Who's not:
Aaron Mokoena - the skipper can probably fairly be blamed for playing 3 Mexicans onside at the point where they scored, and looked a little off the ball during the match. Perhaps the momentous occasion got to him a little?
Lucas Thwala - looked slow and cumbersome at left back, with Giovani dos Santos running him ragged until he was taken off.
Perhaps time to give Matthew Booth a run in the crunch game against Uruguay on Wednesday?
France vs Uruguay: 0-0
Not a fitting follow-up to the opening match in terms of its pace and excitement, and I'm sure that the crowd, although excited about the Cape Town Stadium and the event, were disappointed not to see ball in net.
Who's hot:
Diego Forlan - didn't get much through ball or possession in attacking positions, but certainly looked on form and raring to go.
Who's not:
Franck Ribery - didn't get the opportunities he would have liked, and was closed down quickly by Uruguay, but didn't seem to have the control during his few moments in space that can be expected of someone with his abilities.
South Korea vs Greece: SK 2 - Greece 0
A strong performance by the Asian side will give them a huge boost in Group B - they're likely to cause more upsets than many other teams in the competition.
Who's hot:
Park Ji-Sung - the much vaunted hero from Manchester United has already made his mark on the World Cup, scoring in the 34th minute to break Greek hearts.
Who's not:
The entire Greek midfield - all of who allowed the South Koreans far too much space to move, and push attacks forward without difficulty.
Argentina vs Nigeria: Arg 1 - Nig 0
The scoreline doesn't actually reflect how good the Nigerians were against a team that must be considered a favourite to win the tournament.
Despite numerous flurries of attack by the pulsatingly good Messi, the Nigerians had good opportunities particularly in the second half, and could easily have put a few balls into the Argentine net.
That said, Messi and Tevez dominated up front for Maradona's men, and could just as easily have scored 4 or 5 goals between them.
Who's hot:
Lionel Messi - no surprises really, as the Argentine maestro with seemingly magnetic feet created numerous nerve-wracking moments for the Nigerian defense.
Vincent Enyeama - The Nigerian goalkeeper had his task cut out for him, and stepped up admirably, as he put in a series of breathtaking saves to keep his side in the hunt.
Who's not:
Gabriel Heinze - although the sole goal scorer, Heinze squandered a few opportunities that many would say were too easy to miss.
England vs USA: Eng 1 - USA 1
A hot game if ever there was, the match certainly lived up to the hype, with at least 20 000 England fans crowding out the fewer but equally vocal Americans at Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng stadium.
A well-executed goal from England Captain Steven Gerrard in the 4th minute must have felt like a crushing blow to the Americans, but in true England style, a goalkeeping howler of note brought them back into the game, as Robert Green let slip an innocuous looking shot from USA's Clint Dempsey.
Needless to say the tabloids have had field day, with such rich headlines as "Hand of Clod" and "Stars and Tripe." In fairness, the English were way off their game - predictable, narrow and lacking in imagination - all points that will cost them dearly against the more imaginative South American teams, as well as the Spanish, Germans and Dutch.
Who's hot:
Oguchi Onyewu - The American defender loomed large all game, with strong challenges keeping the likes of Rooney and Crouch very quiet indeed. The effort should have earned the lanky American the Man of the Match award, which in the end went to their goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Steven Gerrard - England's skipper scored their only goal, but more than that looked to be leading from the front despite suffering the setback of the return goal. Only problem is, he can't be everywhere doing everything...
Who's not:
Wayne Rooney - it seems unfair to pick on him so early in the tournament, but the striker has not scored in last seven England matches now, and looked unable to create any space for himself on Saturday night.
Emile Heskey - apart from one assist, the England 'striker' had no impact on the game at all (apart from putting Rio Ferdinand out of the World Cup)
Robert Green - it only takes one blunder of that type to ruin a career forever - but that's what he's done, and there is no escaping the fact that the innocuous shot could have been stopped by most people's grandmother.
Fabio Capello - the England manager made odd choices in his squad selection, and odd choices in his goalkeeper selection for their opening game against an opponent they MUST have known would come out all guns blazing. His choice of King as central defender and Green as goalkeeper must be keeping him up at night. Anyone in the world could see that King was going to break down within 5 minutes (surprised he didn't break his knee going to the toilet on the airplane over) and anyone could see that picking a 'keeper with international experience (even if it is Calamity James) would have been the prudent choice!
Algeria vs Slovenia Alg 0 - Slov. 1
Not exactly a major draw, but it was brilliant to see so many Algerian and Slovenian supporters at Loftus - great message about national loyalty! A fairly entertaining game, with a few chances on goal, especially from set pieces for both sides. In fairness, Algeria looked the sharper of the two sides, but were left with 10 men for the last 20 odd minutes after striker Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent off for a second yellow. The Slovenians, however, were gifted 3 points after the next of the weekend's goalkeeping blunders, as Algeria's Faouzi Chaouchi misread the bounce on a fairly decent but not unstoppable shot from captain Robert Koren found the back of the net.
Who's hot:
Robert Koren - Slovenian skipper Koren looked the best of their team's lot, and his shot on goal (albeit not the best) was decent enough to warrant him a nomination.
Who's not:
Faouzi Chaouchi - Algeria's goalkeeper really set himself up for a fall following on from Robert Green's blunder for the English. Koren's shot was fairly tame and the Algerian 'keeper simply misread what should have been a pretty obvious bounce to miss the ball completely.
Serbia vs Ghana: Ser 0 - Gha 1
The first goal from the spot saw Africa's first team victory as the Ghanaians took full advantage of a Serbian handball. Not the most thrilling match, but tell that to the commentators, who exclaimed (after Asamoah Gyan slotted the spot kick) "That was a wonder-strike"...I have my doubts but suffice to say they were very excited to see an African team in the lead so late in the match (85th minute).
Who's hot:
Prince Tagoe - spent much of the match making strong runs.
Who's not:
Zdravko Kuzmanovic - the perpetrator of the handball crime that gifted Ghana 3 points and a chance to advance out of Group D.
Germany vs Australia: Ger 4 - Aus 0
Everyone had been looking forward to seeing Lahm lead out his men in this World Cup, and my my did they bring it all in their opening game.
Slightly blighted by the wrongful (in my opinion) red-carding of Aussie Tim Cahill for a non-lethal challenge on Bastien Schweinsteiger, the match was really only ever going to end one way as the German midfield exploited continents of space to push through-balls to strikers Klose and Podolski.
The Germans played with imagination and flair, were solid in defense, and clinical in their finshing. Goals from Podolski, Klose, Mueller and Cacau sealed the Aussie fate, and surely put the Germans at the forefront of the favourites to contend for the main prize.
Who's hot:
Lukas Podolski: Looked really sharp and hungry for goals, and didn't disappoint as he looks to repeat his top-scorer form from the 2006 World Cup.
Who's not:
Lucas Neill - The Australian skipper looked hopelessly outclassed against the likes of Klose and Podolski, and then seemed to just give up after Cahill's carding and Mueller's goal. Expected more from an Aussie in terms of "never give up" spirit and felt that was lacking from the leadership.
What's your take on the weekend's action? Post comments about who you think is hot, and who's not.
SA vs Mexico: SA 1 - Mex 1
A stellar kickoff to the 2010 World Cup, with Mexico dominating much of the first half. Bafana came back beautifully in the second half to score first, but allowed Mexico back into the game with a soft goal.
Who's hot:
Siphiwe Tshabalala - South Africa's less than likely goalscorer blasted one in on 55 minutes, a cracking left foot drive to the top corner.
Rafael Marquez - Mexico's stalwart took advantage of a poor defensive lapse to bring the visitors level.
Giovani dos Santos - Mexico's wingman made mincemeat of South Africa's poor close marking with piercing runs down the right side.
Who's not:
Aaron Mokoena - the skipper can probably fairly be blamed for playing 3 Mexicans onside at the point where they scored, and looked a little off the ball during the match. Perhaps the momentous occasion got to him a little?
Lucas Thwala - looked slow and cumbersome at left back, with Giovani dos Santos running him ragged until he was taken off.
Perhaps time to give Matthew Booth a run in the crunch game against Uruguay on Wednesday?
France vs Uruguay: 0-0
Not a fitting follow-up to the opening match in terms of its pace and excitement, and I'm sure that the crowd, although excited about the Cape Town Stadium and the event, were disappointed not to see ball in net.
Who's hot:
Diego Forlan - didn't get much through ball or possession in attacking positions, but certainly looked on form and raring to go.
Who's not:
Franck Ribery - didn't get the opportunities he would have liked, and was closed down quickly by Uruguay, but didn't seem to have the control during his few moments in space that can be expected of someone with his abilities.
South Korea vs Greece: SK 2 - Greece 0
A strong performance by the Asian side will give them a huge boost in Group B - they're likely to cause more upsets than many other teams in the competition.
Who's hot:
Park Ji-Sung - the much vaunted hero from Manchester United has already made his mark on the World Cup, scoring in the 34th minute to break Greek hearts.
Who's not:
The entire Greek midfield - all of who allowed the South Koreans far too much space to move, and push attacks forward without difficulty.
Argentina vs Nigeria: Arg 1 - Nig 0
The scoreline doesn't actually reflect how good the Nigerians were against a team that must be considered a favourite to win the tournament.
Despite numerous flurries of attack by the pulsatingly good Messi, the Nigerians had good opportunities particularly in the second half, and could easily have put a few balls into the Argentine net.
That said, Messi and Tevez dominated up front for Maradona's men, and could just as easily have scored 4 or 5 goals between them.
Who's hot:
Lionel Messi - no surprises really, as the Argentine maestro with seemingly magnetic feet created numerous nerve-wracking moments for the Nigerian defense.
Vincent Enyeama - The Nigerian goalkeeper had his task cut out for him, and stepped up admirably, as he put in a series of breathtaking saves to keep his side in the hunt.
Who's not:
Gabriel Heinze - although the sole goal scorer, Heinze squandered a few opportunities that many would say were too easy to miss.
England vs USA: Eng 1 - USA 1
A hot game if ever there was, the match certainly lived up to the hype, with at least 20 000 England fans crowding out the fewer but equally vocal Americans at Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng stadium.
A well-executed goal from England Captain Steven Gerrard in the 4th minute must have felt like a crushing blow to the Americans, but in true England style, a goalkeeping howler of note brought them back into the game, as Robert Green let slip an innocuous looking shot from USA's Clint Dempsey.
Needless to say the tabloids have had field day, with such rich headlines as "Hand of Clod" and "Stars and Tripe." In fairness, the English were way off their game - predictable, narrow and lacking in imagination - all points that will cost them dearly against the more imaginative South American teams, as well as the Spanish, Germans and Dutch.
Who's hot:
Oguchi Onyewu - The American defender loomed large all game, with strong challenges keeping the likes of Rooney and Crouch very quiet indeed. The effort should have earned the lanky American the Man of the Match award, which in the end went to their goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Steven Gerrard - England's skipper scored their only goal, but more than that looked to be leading from the front despite suffering the setback of the return goal. Only problem is, he can't be everywhere doing everything...
Who's not:
Wayne Rooney - it seems unfair to pick on him so early in the tournament, but the striker has not scored in last seven England matches now, and looked unable to create any space for himself on Saturday night.
Emile Heskey - apart from one assist, the England 'striker' had no impact on the game at all (apart from putting Rio Ferdinand out of the World Cup)
Robert Green - it only takes one blunder of that type to ruin a career forever - but that's what he's done, and there is no escaping the fact that the innocuous shot could have been stopped by most people's grandmother.
Fabio Capello - the England manager made odd choices in his squad selection, and odd choices in his goalkeeper selection for their opening game against an opponent they MUST have known would come out all guns blazing. His choice of King as central defender and Green as goalkeeper must be keeping him up at night. Anyone in the world could see that King was going to break down within 5 minutes (surprised he didn't break his knee going to the toilet on the airplane over) and anyone could see that picking a 'keeper with international experience (even if it is Calamity James) would have been the prudent choice!
Algeria vs Slovenia Alg 0 - Slov. 1
Not exactly a major draw, but it was brilliant to see so many Algerian and Slovenian supporters at Loftus - great message about national loyalty! A fairly entertaining game, with a few chances on goal, especially from set pieces for both sides. In fairness, Algeria looked the sharper of the two sides, but were left with 10 men for the last 20 odd minutes after striker Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent off for a second yellow. The Slovenians, however, were gifted 3 points after the next of the weekend's goalkeeping blunders, as Algeria's Faouzi Chaouchi misread the bounce on a fairly decent but not unstoppable shot from captain Robert Koren found the back of the net.
Who's hot:
Robert Koren - Slovenian skipper Koren looked the best of their team's lot, and his shot on goal (albeit not the best) was decent enough to warrant him a nomination.
Who's not:
Faouzi Chaouchi - Algeria's goalkeeper really set himself up for a fall following on from Robert Green's blunder for the English. Koren's shot was fairly tame and the Algerian 'keeper simply misread what should have been a pretty obvious bounce to miss the ball completely.
Serbia vs Ghana: Ser 0 - Gha 1
The first goal from the spot saw Africa's first team victory as the Ghanaians took full advantage of a Serbian handball. Not the most thrilling match, but tell that to the commentators, who exclaimed (after Asamoah Gyan slotted the spot kick) "That was a wonder-strike"...I have my doubts but suffice to say they were very excited to see an African team in the lead so late in the match (85th minute).
Who's hot:
Prince Tagoe - spent much of the match making strong runs.
Who's not:
Zdravko Kuzmanovic - the perpetrator of the handball crime that gifted Ghana 3 points and a chance to advance out of Group D.
Germany vs Australia: Ger 4 - Aus 0
Everyone had been looking forward to seeing Lahm lead out his men in this World Cup, and my my did they bring it all in their opening game.
Slightly blighted by the wrongful (in my opinion) red-carding of Aussie Tim Cahill for a non-lethal challenge on Bastien Schweinsteiger, the match was really only ever going to end one way as the German midfield exploited continents of space to push through-balls to strikers Klose and Podolski.
The Germans played with imagination and flair, were solid in defense, and clinical in their finshing. Goals from Podolski, Klose, Mueller and Cacau sealed the Aussie fate, and surely put the Germans at the forefront of the favourites to contend for the main prize.
Who's hot:
Lukas Podolski: Looked really sharp and hungry for goals, and didn't disappoint as he looks to repeat his top-scorer form from the 2006 World Cup.
Who's not:
Lucas Neill - The Australian skipper looked hopelessly outclassed against the likes of Klose and Podolski, and then seemed to just give up after Cahill's carding and Mueller's goal. Expected more from an Aussie in terms of "never give up" spirit and felt that was lacking from the leadership.
What's your take on the weekend's action? Post comments about who you think is hot, and who's not.
