The dream is over, almost. South Africa’s hopes of advancing to the next round from Group A were dealt a serious blow after they lost to Uruguay 0-3 here on Wednesday.
The festive atmosphere at Loftus Versfeld Stadium failed to inspire South Africa. Bereft of imagination, the hosts never came close to scoring. Their first shot on goal, an innocuous one at that, came in the 68th minute.
Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will be more worried about the manner his troops surrendered than the result itself. The Brazilian, who is on World Cup duty for the sixth time since 1982, tried to deflect mounting criticisms by having a go at the Swiss referee in his post-match press conference. But the truth is Uruguay brutally exposed his team’s frailties. South Africa will have to beat France on June 22 and hope other results go their way to entertain any thoughts about round of 16.
June 16 is a national holiday here in commemoration of Soweto uprisings of 1976. The stage was set for South Africa to rise to the occasion, but the players’ collective self-belief deserted them at a critical time. Captain Aaron Mokoena admitted as much after the loss. Even the fiercest Bafana Bafana fan wouldn’t dare to say that his team was good enough on the day.
Uruguay reaped the rewards for their energy and invention. Diego Forlan, the South American team’s talisman, justified the number that was on the back of his jersey — 10 — with an effervescent display. He scored two including a penalty and set up the third to complete a memorable night for the small island of Uruguayan supporters.
The Atletico Madrid sharpshooter has come a long way from the forgettable time he had spent with Manchester United at the turn of the millennium. Parreira later said Forlan was the difference between the two teams.
Forlan, whose father had also represented Uruguay at the World Cup, got on to the scoresheet with a stinging drive from outside the penalty area. After taking a slight deflection off the statuesque Mokoena, the ball looped into the net past South Africa’s bemused goalkeeper, Itumeleng Khune.
The lack of a cutting edge in South Africa’s attacking moves was glaring. Midfield engine Steven Piennar was a pale shadow of his usual self. South Africa struggled to stitch together meaningful passes. Their pattern of play often resembled rugby, with the ball often moving backward and sideways.
The hosts were marginally better after the break, even though an equaliser was never on the horizon. The plot went haywire 10 minutes from time as Khune brought down Ajax forward Luis Suarez on the edge of the six-yard box in a one-on-one duel.