South Africa vs. Uruguay 2010 World Cup: No Invictus for Bafana Bafana

South Africa falls 0:3 to Uruguay , courtesy of two goals by Diego Forlan, one from a penalty kick, and Alvaro Pereira. To be fair to Bafana Bafana, they had a good first half if bested by Uruguay, with Diego Forlan marshalling events in the midfield. South Africa's nightmare began when Forlan's shot on goal at the 24th  minute was deflected by A aron Mokoena, giving it a needed dip towards goal, leaving goalkeeper   Itumelenge Khune in no man's land as the ball landed in the net.

 With much of the first half still to play, and with all of the 45 minutes of the second half to look forward to, hope was still not lost. But on resumption, the superiority of Uruguay became apparent as they completely shut down the midfield, allowing South Africa no leeway. It was a very discipline defensive display by Uruguay, who played a 4-4-2 formation, in which the midfield four moved with precision, the eventual bane of South Africa.

 The midfield of Uruguay was an effective answer for Bafana Bafana's style of play which favors individual movement on the ball with quick passes through the middle and out to the flank and then diagonally inward as they approach the last quarter of the opponent's halve. It didn't help matters that South Africa played with a lone striker in the middle. What they needed to have done were two things: a quicker touch on the ball with quick movement off the ball while building the attack from the back deliberately and patiently, and a   utilization of the flanks (rather than their diagonal movements) to stretch out the midfield four as well as the back four of Uruguay. A "V" attack build up from the back while the players on the flank moved off the ball could have drawn out the midfield four, affording South Africa an opportunity to get the ball into the first quarter of Uruguay's halve and out to the flank to be crossed into the goal area.

 The send off of goalkeeper Khune for fouling Suarez put paid to South Africa's hope of advancing from the group stage. It will require a fairy tale finish for them in their match against France to advance from the group and even then, France would need to lose to Mexico and Mexico to Uruguay.   All indications point to South Africa's exit in the group stage, which is a shame. The hosts needed to have progressed further in the competition for the sake of the fans at least. After the penalty kick, which resulted in a second goal for Uruguay, there was a mass exodus of South Africa's supporters from the stadium. It remains to be seen whether or not the locals would still attend matches if South Africa is knocked out.