South Africa and Mexico Tie in First Match; 800+ Ugandans Travel to S.A. For World Cup
Soccer City stadium during the World Cup, South Africa. Reuters.
The first game of the World Cup kicked off at South Africa’s Soccer City stadium in Soweto, to the energetic sounds of the vuvuzela. South Africa and Mexico tied 1-1, with 25-year-old Soweto native Siphine Tshabalala getting the first goal of the game, the New York Times reported.
It looked like South Africa would win the first game, but Mexico’s 31-year-old Rafael Márquez scored a goal eleven minutes before the game ended.
South African President Jacob Zuma opened the tournament after former president Nelson Mandela’s great-granddaughter, Zenani Mandela, was killed in a car crash the night before, ABC reported.
The tournament is a historical moment for both South Africa and the larger African continent. Four years after apartheid in 1998, South Africa was admitted into FIFA, and won the African Cup of Nations. Its team today, known as Bafana Bafana, is coached by Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira.
According to reporting by the Daily Monitor, more than 800 Ugandans traveled to South Africa to attend the World Cup. You can follow Ugandan journalists’ coverage of the World Cup at the Daily Monitor here, or in New Vision’s sports coverage.
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