What a great opening to the biggest Sporting event in the World! And it was only fitting a South African player scored the first goal in the opening match against Mexico on Friday.
Siphiwe Tshabalala scored a brilliant goal to send the South African fans into euphoria. Unfortunately, Mexico equalized late on to level, but Tshabalala's goal gave hope to the Bafana Bafana. Many people thought South Africa would go without a point in their group however, the draw against Mexico, arguably the best team in the group, proved them wrong.
The most impressive team award has to go to Germany. Even after losing Michael Ballack, Germany showed great attacking versatility to defeat Australia 4-0. Many people considered Australia to be a dark horse for the tournament but Germany's firing power was just too good.
Then there was Ghana who won Serbia 1-0. That’s two African teams that surpassed expectations.
You have to feel for Robert Green, the England keeper, who made a total mess of a dead-easy saving opportunity in Saturday's 1 all match between the USA and England. Clint Dempsey shot a soft ball towards the goal. It looked like Green was going to make the easy save, but in the process, Green deflected the ball towards his own net, scoring a goal for the United States. There are already talks of Fabio Capello using Joe Hart from Manchester City instead of Green.
After all Capello has received much criticism from his own countrymen about his starting XI. Capello's first bad decision was starting Robert Green at goalie. Although Green played well in the Premier League, he doesn’t have enough international experience.
In my view, the biggest winner so far in this historic tournament has to be our “national” musical instrument – the Vuvuzela! While Bafana has dubbed it there “12th man”, the world has grown obsessed with the vuvuzela. Hate it or love it - the vuvuzela has brought the 2010 World Cup a unique identity—one of passion, desire, and dedication.
No matter what, this weekend has shown that the World Cup will be a wild ride. Fasten your seat belts because this African adventure will only get more intense in the next couple of weeks.
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Bafana is tops, SA better & South Africans the best 
