1st match South Africa – Uruguay

          South Africa –Since Carlos Alberto Perreira took control the side, they have a good record with 12 matches unbeaten run including several top side as Japan, Paraguay and Denmark. They will start with 4-4-1-1.

         Their defenders are led by Aaron Mokoena who now plays for Portsmouth. His strength is his tackling but some might say he is too slow now. Anyway, he is still the best defender for his country. He will pair up Khumalo.

            In the midfield, Pienaar, the best player in the country, will control the tempo of the game He might play in the hole behind the striker instead of side midfield which he played at the Everton his current club.

           They use lone striker system, Katlego Mphela his significant skill is the movement. He knows where he needs to run into. His record for national side is also great. He scored 15 goals for 31 appearances.

           Mexico, they are the dark horse for me in this tournament. So don’t be surprised if they are the winner of this group while France is now underachieving.

           Mexico has the good prospect goal keeper, Guillermo Ochoa; He might not as tall as other world-class goal keeper. In my opinion, he will move to European club after the World Cup.

           The Mexican’s defensive line is very flexible; their basic formation is 4-4-2 with Osorio and Rodriguez are the centre defenders but they rarely play this system during the game. When they have the ball their full back are going over the half-line, then their centre back will be wider and left marquez who is defensive midfield is the centre player at the back. We can’t say that he is a centre defender because he pushes up to the half-line.

            On the other hand when they are not process the ball, Marquez will be drop deeper to be one of the defenders and that make them turn the system into 5-4-1

            In the midfield, Gerardo Torrado always comes deep to get the ball from the defender. Mexico prefers to play the ball on ground. They use the combination of two young winger, Giovanni dos Santos and Carlos Vela to attack.

             Guillermo Franco is not a guaranteed first choice striker. The other strikers are Cuauhtémoc Blanco, the Mexican legend, and Javier Hernandez, Manchester United new striker. All of them will drop deep when they get a chance to play

             Prediction: Both of them are solid sides but without the international experiences South Africa will not able to compete with Mexico which have a lot better tactic and more players to use to adapt their strategies. Mexico 2-0 South Africa.