FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa Football News & Matches Schedule

The first ever African football World Cup will get underway this Friday when hosts South Africa clash against Mexico in Johannesburg. Use your exclusive membership with and watch South Africa vs Mexico live on your computer.

The hosts of every World Cup have always managed to get past the first round, and South Africa will look to continue that proud record. Bafana Bafana come into this game full of confidence after upsetting Denmark 1-0 in their last friendly. Striker Katlego “Killer” Mphela scored the winner against the Danes with about a quarter of an hour left on the clock.

South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who has seen his side go twelve games without a defeat, is expected to stick to his tried and tested 4-2-3-1 formation for this important fixture. With Benni McCarthy not selected for the tournament, Mphela is expected to shoulder the burden of scoring alone. And judging by his recent form, the 25 year old Sundowns striker appears more than equipped to get the job done. South Africa have struggled to score goals- in last year’s Confederations Cup on home soil, they netted just twice, and both against New Zealand, who, with all due respect to them, are not in the same league as Bafana’s Group A opponents.

Mexico will also not be short on confidence, having beaten world champions Italy 2-1 in their last fixture. The goals in that fixture came from Carlos Vela and Alberto Medina. El Tri coach Javier Aguirre has experimented with a number of formations in the lead up to this tournament. Against Italy, he put Rafael Marquez and Efrain Juarez, normally defenders, into a three man midfield along with Gerardo Torrado. Should Aguirre opt to go with a similar lineup on Friday, Deportivo star Andres Guardado could find himself on the bench instead of starting on the left flank.

The goalkeeper’s spot is likely to be a tossup between Guillermo Ochoa and veteran Oscar Perez, with the former expected to get the nod. While South Africa have not really played quality opposition in the last few months, Mexico have had plenty of experience against teams ranked in FIFA’s top ten, having played England and the Netherlands too.