Matchday 1 - A Tale Of Two Draws

South Africa 1 (Thsabalala 55) - Mexico 1 (Marquez 79)
Uruguay 0 - France 0

The 2010 World Cup opened with a pair of draws that could not have been more different. South Africa and Mexico played a classic pulsating game of end-to-end attacking football that kept viewers on the edge of their seats for the entire 90 minutes. In contrast, Uruguay and France played out a dull, tepid, 0-0 draw that unfortunately has become common place in many games at recent World Cups.

Apparently their is a saying in Mexican football - "We play like we never have - and lose like we always do". Mexican fans must have been reliving past nightmares when Bafana Bafana's Tshabalala's (surely referenced by Van Morrison in Brown Eyed Girl) stunning strike gave the hosts an undeserved lead. It is hard to believe a team has started the first 20 minutes of a World Cup better than Mexico - but they just could not score! They arguably could have been 3 or 4 up at half time!!! Luckily Barcelona's Marquez was their to save the day with a 79th minute leveller, but the North American's could not push on and find the winner they truly deserved, a goal that would have landed The Falcon's 2-1 correct score bet. The Mexicans are fantastic and would surely have to get out of the group on that effort.

In contrast to the majestic game in Jo'berg, the Uruguay - France game was absolute trash. The French sent out an extremely defensive side and unsurprisingly failed to break down a ruggedly defensive Uruguay side. The sides created only a few decent chances between them with Diego Forlan the only attacking player that played with any real venom (unfortunately he couldn't snare the first goal to land my bet!). However he received limited supply in a game that got bogged down in the middle of the park with tight defences preventing too many moves into either sides penalty box. Uruguay had a player sent off in the last 10 minutes but France couldn't even take advantage of that to land a winner. A very disappointing affair.

Updated Odds To Advance - France ($1.50), Mexico ($2.00), Uruguay ($1.90), South Africa ($3.00)

What we learned - the Jabalani ball absolutely flies at altitude. Pass after pass from the Mexican defenders and midfielders overshot their wing backs who were pushing forward into space down the wings. Scoring at the tournament may be muted until everyone has adjusted to the balls flight.

The Falcon's Spud of the Day - Oscar Perez (Mexico). Geez I hope the Mexican goalie was drug tested after the game. He was all over the shop and could barely get near any of the Saffer crosses. I haven't seen a less convincing display in goal since Pocock let in a lazy 10 in a single half for Carrington United out at Sydney Boys High one night.

Tonight's Games - South Korea and Greece must be looking good to make it 3 draws from 3 games when they meet in the early fixture. However the big guns follow after that with Argentina taking on Nigeria and England facing the US. I expect the Argies and the English to both salute by the odd goal, ensuring at least a couples teams have a win on the board at the tournament.

Suggested Investment - close but no cigar with the more exotic bet types last night so it might be time to get back to basics. A multi with Argentina and England both to win should hopefully get us our first collect of the tournament.

Prices courtesy of Betfair.