A solid start for the co-hosts, which I guess makes South Africa’s absolute gas.
And with that, I’m afraid I must leave you. Thanks so much for your company. comments, sorry I couldn’t use them all – excuse while I interrupt myself, but Jobi McAnuff has just talked about “Ronaldo, Messi, Modric – the GOATS of the era”. And yes, of course GOATS is now a word not an abbreviation – it should take lower-case really –. anyway, it tickled me.
But now it really is time to go –. we’ll be back in under four hours to bring you South Korea v Czechia. We’re under way!
Er, Harry Kane has just been on telly and … appears to be getting into the spirit of things?
Here’s Jonathan Wilson’s report.
ITV have just shown us footage of the USA squad going wild at the end of last night’s Knicks v Spurs game. If you’ve not seen yet, I urge you so to do.
On which point I’ve had an unbelievable quantity of those today – thanks a lot, it’s very much appreciated. Apologies I couldn’t get to them all.
“In a shameless attempt for the father-son double,” says Patrick Halladay. “my earliest memories were the Maradona goals in the 1986 quarter-finals at today’s stadium (too soon?). Though at 14, I was a bit old for a first World Cup memory, Maradona,. particularly his mazy second goal, is really the first time that the cup broke through into the US sporting consciousness.”
People are going to start inventing relations when they email in…
I hope poor Sithole is OK, his day already inked into annals as one of the worst in World Cup history; I guess he’ll be banned for the second game,. hopefully gets the chance to redeem his experience in the third.
As for SA, I really don’t know what they set out to achieve. They were unambitious at the start, understandably so perhaps, but they didn’t improve and lacked any kind of zest. But it’s only the first game and, with Czechia. South Korea to come, they’ve still got hopes of making the round of 908,452.
The first game of the competition is in the books. I’d like to have seen a little more zip from Mexico,. I can only imagine the emotional dump of preparing for the game for however long, then playing the opening fixture of a home World Cup in the Azteca. I really liked the look of Gutierrez, and Fidalgo and Lira alongside, that’s a pretty decent midfield.
A solid start for the co-hosts, which I guess makes South Africa’s absolute gas.
90+6 min I do wonder, though, if we’ve just seen a change in the laws. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a red card shown for denial of a goalscoring opportunity when the foul happened out wide. Are we saying Mudau was going to score, or was going to square it for someone else to score? Because if it’s the latter, we’re now at one remove from the offence, which i’ve also never seen before.
90+5 min It’s not been the best game but, let’s be real, ye cannae argue with three red cards.
90+3 min Now that one I didn’t see coming. I guess Mudau would’ve gone inside towards goal. had men over, but that looked a classic yellow-card foul to me – Montes is shocked and I’m not surprised.
90+2 min But here they come, Mudau charging down the right, and it’s four on three! He skips outside Montes, who does what any decent human would do,. extends a thigh to trop him, a playground/back yard-style challenge and a thing of beauty.
90+1 min We’ll have seven additional minutes. SA won’t be chuffed by that.
90 min SA have, I’m afraid, produced perhaps the worst opening-match performance I’ve ever seen. Of course, Cameroon had two players set off in 1990,. managed to beat the champions while they were at it. I guess we might say France against Senegal in 2002, but they gave it a much better go than this.
88 min In comms, Ally wants to know what Roy Keane thinks about the red,. luckily I’m able to tell him.
86 min “Red card for THAT? Good grief!” thunders David Marriott,. I wish I agreed – I mean I sort of do agree because who doesn’t love everything that no one wants to see? But he slapped his face. pretty hard; I’m not sure how the law could’ve been interpreted in any other way.
84 min Much as many of us will have enjoyed that, the ref had no choice,. this has been disastrous for the Saffers.
82 min I’m not sure what’s going on here, but the ref has gone to the monitor …. we see Zwane moving the ball wide, then making towards the box … slapping the side of Alvarado’s face en route. Oh dear – he thought he was being dead sneaky. he was, it was a pretty solid connection – shame we couldn’t hear it, because it wouldn’t been nice and hollow – except there are a million cameras all over the show and the ref can consult them.
81 min a rare SA attack, Appollis moving inside and drilling low … but straight at Rangel.
79 min Another Mexican alteration: Quinones, who’s played well, gives way to Vega.
76 min Ch ch changes, Alvarez coming on for Lira to win his 100th cap. Gonzalez replacing Jimenez; SA try Makgopa for Rayners and Modiba for Appollis.
74 min Sibisi’s got the taste for it, against using an arm to hammer into Quinones,. this time he’s booked.
73 min Alvarado takes a pass at inside-right – pretty much where Burruchaga collected from Maradona in the 1986 final –. slides in behind for Jimenez, who’s in … for the brief second before Sibisi steps across him, arm into chest. Down he goes, but the ref is emphatic in indicating there’s no foul and rightly so, I think.
71 min Off we go again and, seeing as we’re talking about it, I totally understand the need for breaks – player safety has to be paramount, though I don’t think it’s that hot today,. surely there should be some temperature that needs hitting for one to be in operation. Nor do I think Fifa really understand that by instituting one, they’re affecting the game by disrupting flow and momentum.
69 min Time for another hydration break and, judging by my inbox, numerous adverts everywhere in the world. the UK.
What a moment! After everything he’s been through. four World Cups without scoring, Raul Jimenez has his moment and doesn’t he enjoy it, eyes welling with tears – I daresay his aren’t the only ones. He holds adroitly then passes to Quinones in midfield, whose clever feet work more space. allow him to find Alvarado down the right. The cross is a beauty and Jimenez, now inside the box, heads down and inside the near post.
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