By Kenneth Tan/Red Sports
The kick off to the World Cup 2010 is just hours away. Hosts South Africa will play in the opening match against Mexico at 10pm SG time while 2006 finalists France play Uruguay at 2.30am SG time.
Will South Africa kick off with a bang with their fanatic home support? Or will Mexico upset the Bafana Bafana’s party through their individual quality?
Will France come out of their doldrums? Or will Uruguay break the French hearts’ with their double strikeforce of Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan?
Let our Group A pundits Victoria Junior College’s Asyraf Akbar and Parvesh Dhillon bring you a preview of the two opening matches of the World Cup 2010.
Mohd Asyraf Akbar of VJC. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Parvesh Dhillon of VJC. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
South Africa vs Mexico
Asyraf says: 1-1 Draw
Under the immense pressure of playing the first game of the tournament, both teams will look to play cautious football and keep their defences tight. Note that no team that hosts the World Cup has ever lost an opener, and South Africa will need to convert their pre-tournament optimism into a good performance on the field to keep that record.
Mexico will need their team of seasoned campaigners and young starlets like Carlos Vela and Giovanni dos Santos to settle quickly. They play more creative football and are the stronger team, but home advantage will mean a lot in this match-up.
Steven Pienaar is Bafana Bafana’s key player. The Everton winger is an influential player for his country, and his teammates will look to him to make something happen. For South Africa to get something out of this game, they need Pienaar to hit top form tonight.
For Mexico, Rafael Marquez will be the man to look out for. Playing at the heart of the Mexican defence, the Barcelona man is a rock, and Mexico will definitely be counting on his experience to lead and organise the defence. He will need to be at his best today to thwart South Africa’s strikeforce.
I predict both teams will cancel each other out in a 1-1 draw.
Parvesh Says: 1-1 Draw
1-1 draw. Both teams are on a good run of form, with South Africa being unbeaten since mid-October and Mexico having a lot of confidence after beating reigning world champions Italy, 2-1. South Africa also probably have the entire nation or perhaps even the continent behind them. The Mexicans have been revitalised by their new manager, Javier Aguirre, after they looked to be missing out on the tournament altogether when under Sven Goran Eriksson.
The Mexicans played free flowing and attacking football against England in a recent friendly and were unlucky to lose 2-1. The same can be said for South Africa and with the likes of Steven Pienaar and Aaron Mokoena, this looks to be a very entertaining game of football.
Look out for Carlos Vela and Manchester United’s new signing Javier Hernandez for Mexico. The quick and agile striker has netted 7 times in 12 games for his country. For South Africa, the spotlight will be on Steven Pienaar after a good season at Everton. Also, Katlego Mphela will be a player to watch out for. He was one of the few reasons why top striker Benni Mccarthy was left out of the 23-man squad.
Uruguay vs France
Asyraf Says: 3-1 to France
In a match between two countries who have won the World Cup, I predict a win for France. They will be out to prove their critics wrong after a series of disappointing performances in their friendly matches and a poor qualifying campaign which will always be remembered for Henry’s handball.
France boasts a very experienced and solid defence and and a strikeforce that will terrorise any defence in the world, with Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka, Franck Ribery and Yoann Gourcuff. They will look to overwhelm Uruguay’s defence today.
Uruguay are a consistent and well-rounded team that no one wants to play. Like all teams South American, they play very attractive attacking football and look to press forward at every chance. However their defence can certainly be suspect at times, especially with key defensive midfielder Cristian Rodriguez out.
Patrice Evra is France’s key player, not just in defence, but attack. France will look to him as their extra man going forward, especially down the left flank. The Red Devil’s blistering pace will certainly pose Uruguay a few problems.
Diego Forlan is definitely Uruguay’s key player. He is used to playing (and beating) top defences in both the Spanish and English leagues. Forlan also packs a powerful shot. If Uruguay are to get anything out of tonight’s game, I predict Forlan’s name will be on the scoresheet.
Parvesh Says: 2-1 to France
2-1 win to France. Although history is against them in this fixture, i still expect France will pull through. In the 2002 World Cup, it was a 0-0 draw against Uruguay in their second group game that confirmed their exit.
Even though Raymond Domenech’s side required a Thierry Henry hand ball to edge past the Republic of Ireland, the French still have class among their ranks. Even with the absence of Lassana Diarra through injury, Franck Ribery is capable of changing a game at any moment and even in the light of Thierry Henry’s exile to the bench, he could still make an impact when he is brought on.
In spite of Uruguay’s rich vein of form, the idea of them stopping the French again is rather unconvincing.
France are grappling with an experimental 4-3-3 formation and much rests on the shoulders of Franck Ribery to perform in this rather unfamiliar formation. However, with Diego Lugano leading Oscar Taberez’s highly spirited side, who knows what damage the Uruguayans could do during the match.
Suarez and Forlan will be potential threats to the French backline. Suarez might arguably be the most in-form footballer at the moment, having scored 49 goals for Ajax last season while Diego Forlan has shown that he is more than capable of performing on the big stage, having scored both Atletico Madrid’s goals in the UEFA Europa League final. If my prediction for this fixture goes wrong, these two will probably be responsible for it.
For the French, William Gallas and Eric Abidal have to be at the top of their game to nullify the threat posed by both of them. Also as I’ve pointed out earlier, the french will need Ribery to make things happen upfront.
Ed’s note: Red Sports will be covering the World Cup daily and so join us each day to share your opinions about the night’s action!
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EA Sports Predictions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnonx5krDQE&feature=fvst
2010 World Cup Fixtures, Groups, Results
| GROUP A | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
URUGUAY  | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 7 |
MEXICO  | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 |
SOUTH AFRICA  | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 4 |
FRANCE  | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 1 |
For the World Cup fixtures list with Singapore broadcast timings as well as group tables and the list of CCs with free screenings, go to: http://redsports.sg/2010-world-cup-fixtures-groups/
Good prediction, Asyraf and Parvesh. Let’s see how many you get correct after round one! : )
Wow, what brilliant pundits.
Great start for our two pundits, well done!