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South Africa’s Yaya Sithole had a game to forget in the opening match of the World Cup as he gave away a goal and was sent off within 50 minutes.
The 2010 hosts were the unlucky side drawn to face Mexico, one of the three host nations, in Mexico City on opening night and faced a tough atmosphere inside the Azteca.
And the African side got off to the worst possible start on nine minutes when Julian Quinones opened the scoring after a defensive lapse.
The Saudi Pro League Golden Boot winner pounced on a mistake from Sithole, who plays in the top league in Portugal for CD Tondela.
The mistake came after a short free kick from South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, who played the ball short to his midfielder on the edge of his box.
Sithole took a touch and was quickly closed down by Alvaro Fidalgo. As the South Africa man hit the deck, Quinones ran in, took control of the ball, and fired past Williams for the opening goal of the tournament.
Yaya Sithole (left) has a match to forget in the opening game of the World Cup as he gave away a goal and was sent off
ITV’s pundits were split on who to blame for the goal. Roy Keane opted to criticise Williams, arguing: ‘To me, the midfielder is too straight. OK, it’s a bad touch, but Mexico are going to press you. The goalkeeper has to go left or right. The pass is too straight and he has to take a touch. To me, it is on the goalkeeper.’
Gary Neville, though, pointed the finger at Sithole. The Manchester United legend said: ‘The biggest mistake the goalkeeper makes is a mess of the shot. I think it’s the simplest thing in the world for the midfield player to take a touch and play it wide. We see it week in, week out.
‘I give up saying knock it long – I think it is a shocking touch, he has a simple pass.’
And things got worse for Sithole just after half-time. Mexico had looked as though they were going to make it 2-0 when Brian Gutierrez ran at goal, with Sithole chasing him.
Just before the Mexico star entered the box, however, the two tangled legs, and the referee wasted no time in showing Sithole a red card.
The 27-year-old looked to the assistant referee to see if he could be saved by the offside flag, but he wasn’t, and will now face a suspension, missing the game against Czechia in a week’s time. He became only the third player since 1966 to record and error leading to a goal and a red card in the same World Cup match.
And things got even worse for South Africa in the 84th minute. After a VAR review, Themba Zwane was sent off for violent conduct after making contact with Roberto Alvarado’s face when trying to pull him back.
And, soon after, Mexico’s Cesar Montes was sent off for the denial of a goal scoring opportunity too. He will miss Mexico’s game against South Korea next Friday.
Which England star has 7 GCSEs? Who has lost half of his finger? Test your knowledge of Thomas Tuchel’s squad with our exclusive quiz HERE
