By Koh Yizhe/Red Sports
South Africa, Thursday, June 17, 2010 — France, runners-up in the last World Cup, are on the brink of elimination after suffering a 2-0 defeat by Mexico in Group A of the 2010 World Cup.
After being held to a goalless draw by Uruguay in their opening match, the French team needed a positive result to get their campaign back on track. However, they turned in an unimpressive performance with Mexico’s Javier Hernández and Cuauhtémoc Blanco bagging the goals.
Javier Hernández beat the offside trap in the 64th minute before rounding the French goalkeeper and slotting it into an empty net. Less than 15 minutes later, it was 2-0.
Substitute Pablo Barrera was brought down the inside box by Eric Abidal after breezing past the defense. The referee did not hesitate to point to the spot and gave Abidal a yellow card for his troubles. Up stepped 37-year-old Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who duly converted the penalty with a low shot to the goalkeeper’s right to double his side’s lead.
After an uneventful first half, France came out firing at the start of the second half with two quick chances falling to Florent Malouda and Franck Ribery. Malouda had a fierce drive from outside the box tipped over for a corner in the 54th minute while Ribery forced Oscar Perez into action again with a shot from the left side of the box a minute later.
Despite the pressure, Mexico took the two-goal lead and they hung on for a famous victory.
Should Mexico and Uruguay draw in their next match, they will both go through to the next round at the expense of France.
The French will play their last match against host South Africa and pray for a miracle. They will only go through to the last 16 if they beat South Africa by a large margin and Mexico or Uruguay claim a victory.
Next our pundit Parvesh Dhillon provides us his post-match opinions.
Parvesh Dhillon of VJC. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Parvesh Says:
Ribery and company were insipid and lacklustre once again. They struggled to break the Mexican defence and were definitely not at their best. I though rather than Dos Santos, Mexico left-back Carlos Salcido was the best player on the pitch. His running and agility was a highlight throughout the match and I think it’s surely the end of the French’s world cup campaign. Pity they didn’t score a goal though.
The introduction of Javier Hernandez was a masterstroke from Javier Aguirre and cult-hero Blanco heaped even more misery onto the french when he fired home from the penalty spot.
Man of the Match: Carlos Salcido
He was definitely the best player on the pitch. He did everything brilliantly and he reminded me of Patrice Evra at his best.
More News and Reactions
France coach Raymond Domenech admits they need a miracle
Video highlights of the match
| 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/
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