Mexico Takes Full Advantage of Home Soil
Mexico 2–0 South Africa
Mexico opened the tournament as one of three host nations and truly showed how home field advantage can be a game changer. From the first whistle the Azteca was shaking — 80,000 fans willing every Mexican touch forward. South Africa looked rattled before the game had even started.
First Half
Mexico put South Africa under pressure almost immediately. In the fifth minute Raúl Jiménez, hungry for his first World Cup goal, met a cross and forced a fantastic save from Ronwen Williams.
Only four minutes later El Tri opened the scoring. A terrible giveaway from South Africa at the top of their own penalty area — and this would prove to be a theme — allowed Quiñones to slot the ball through the keeper's legs. Williams probably should have done better.
The half continued in this fashion. South Africa repeatedly tried to play out from the back and for the most part gave the ball away cheaply, handing Mexico chance after chance. The visitors did occasionally break through the Mexican press but looked completely disconnected once they entered the final third, offering little going forward.
Mexico should have gone into the break with a bigger lead. The best chance fell to 22-year-old Chivas midfielder Brian Gutiérrez, who found himself in the box late in the half and toe-poked his effort wide.
Second Half
More of the same to start the second half. Mexico immediately pressed South Africa off the ball but fluffed another early chance.
In the 50th minute things went from bad to worse for South Africa. Gutiérrez was played in on goal when midfielder Sphephelo Sithole — already at fault for the opening goal — clumsily ran into the back of him, conceding a penalty and receiving a straight red card. Gutiérrez certainly made the most of the contact, kicking his feet up into the trailing defender, but it was hard to argue there was nothing in it.
Down to ten men, South Africa actually showed some fight. They started going a little more direct, though they still created very little.
It didn't matter. In the 66th minute Mexico put the game to bed. Another South African giveaway led to a counter-attack finished with a thumping Raúl Jiménez header. What followed was one of the images of the opening day — Jiménez, visibly emotional, mobbed by teammates after finally getting his World Cup goal. For those who followed his recovery from a serious head injury in recent years, it was a moment that is why we love sports.
The drama wasn't over. In the 83rd minute South Africa were reduced to nine men — at this point collecting red cards at roughly the same rate as touches in Mexico's box — when Themba Zwane's attempted swim move caught a Mexican player in the face. This one was more debatable, but when your hand connects with someone's face in the modern game you are asking for trouble.
It wasn't all positive for Mexico either. In the second minute of stoppage time they received a red card of their own. César Montes brought down Mudau just outside the box and the referee was quick to reach for red for denial of a goalscoring opportunity. It will be debated — Mudau's touch looked to be taking him away from goal — but the ref had no hesitation.
Though Mexico could arguably have stretched their lead further, it was a dominant opening day performance from El Tri. They face what will surely be a sterner test against South Korea next Thursday at 9PM EST. South Africa, meanwhile, will need a serious improvement if they want any chance of escaping the group.