World Cup: South Africa Falls to a Tragedy of Errors
For the Bafana Bafana, there may be no manana.
As in so many of the first week of World Cup games, it was a large piece of bad luck, accompanied by a few small pieces of bad judgment, that impressed themselves on the proceedings and dictated the outcome of South Africa's encounter with Uruguay.
Uruguay's 3-0 win won't silence the vuvuzelas, but it won't animate critics.
Thought the South Africans can point to bad luck, they cannot claim they deserved to win the game.
The bad luck, after all, only came in the first half.
Uruguay's first goal was officially scored by Diego Forlan.
Its real anatomy, however, consisted of a speculative strike from Forlan, a failure to deny him space by South African captain Aaron Mokoena, a deflection off Mokoena's head that caused the ball to take on evil topspin, and a transfixed South African goalkeeper, Khune, watching the ball sail over his head into the net.
Even to that point, Uruguay had looked more menacing, more physically able and more intent on attacking.
For long periods, South African striker Katlego Mphena looked as if his name should be Diego Forlorn.
He received no support. He had no one to link up with. It was as if he was the player that time forgot.
The second half offered no real respite, either for him or for the rest of his team.
Uruguay always looked menacing, with both Forlan and Luis Suarez taking up positions that stretched the South African defense even more than the credulity of some of the Uruguayan diving.
No one is quite sure where the penchant for flinging yourself at the first hint of contact began.
Some say Germany. Others point to the more emotional nations such as Spain, Italy, Argentina and, indeed, Uruguay.
It was just one such dive in the 79th minute that flung the game, and perhaps South Africa's chances of progressing in the competition, into a solid coffin.
The ball came in from Forlan, was missed by several, and landed at the feet of Suarez.
As he cut inside, Khune came out of his goal to tackle, in the sametwo-footed style that cost Spain's Iker Casiilas earlier in the day against Switzerland.
Yes, there was physical contact. Khune's foot touched that of Suarez.
But the Uruguayan twisted his body and collapsed to the ground as if Clint Eastwood had fired both barrels into his torso and he'd forgotten to put on his bullet-proof vest.
It really isn't true that every time contact is made football players fall over. It's just that sometimes it seems that way.
Suarez' dive was shamefully professional.
Worse, the Swiss referee, Massimo Busaccca was so taken in that he not only blew for a penalty, but also showed Khune the red card, generously judging it to be a clear goalscoring opportunity.
That Alvaro Pareira added a third in the very last minute against ten men was immaterial.
South Africa didn't deserve to win because it failed to show ambition, hoping, strangely, that flooding the midfield would somehow produce goals.
Not one South African player wanted to take control of the game, take it to Uruguay and put it under pressure. You couldn't point to a single chance the Bafana Bafana had in the whole game.
Now South Africa must hope for a win against France and other results to go its way.
That is a very large state of good hope and, for those with the vuvuzelas, it may well be blowing in the wind.
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing, and an avid sports fan. He is also the author of the popular CNET blog Technically Incorrect.
See also:
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