south africa held the world cup in 2010.
south africa held the world cup in 2010.
when did south africa hold the world cup?
2010
a string of victories, albeit against marginal opposition, in the run up to the 2010 fifa world cup seemed to instill a sense of confidence in the team as well as the nation. for the 2010 world cup, the first in africa, south africa was placed in group a, along with mexico, surprise package and eventual semi-finalists uruguay and former world champions france. south africa played the first game, which opened the world cup 2010 football tournament with a 1–1 draw against mexico after taking the lead through a wonderful long-range siphiwe tshabalala strike. katlego mphela would hit the post late into the game as south africa, buoyed by a frenzied home crowd, so very nearly opened the tournament with a win. a heavy 3–0 defeat in the second group game against uruguay and a mexican win over france left south africa with a mountain to climb in order to progress beyond the group stage. for the deciding match against france, parreira would discard his previous tactics of a defensive-minded five-man midfield and a lone forward in favour of a more attacking formation utilising two forwards, as up until the france game south africa had focused more on not losing than they did on trying to win, but the heavy defeat against uruguay coupled with mexico's victory over france had now left them with a goal difference of negative three that needed to be overcome in order for them to progress. south africa would also require a favour from uruguay, needing the uruguayans to inflict a sizeable defeat on mexico to aid their chances of progress. the change in tactics worked as south africa gained the upper hand over the french, attacking at will. at the half south africa had a 2–0 lead thanks to goals from bongani khumalo & katlego mphela while uruguay were beating mexico 1–0 in the other group game. as it stood, south africa needed at least one more goal against france while uruguay needed to double their lead against mexico. sadly, it was not to be as while south africa did secure an historic victory over france, they failed to score again and conceded a late goal for a 2–1 victory while the uruguayans had failed to add to their lead, as they ran out 1–0 victors over mexico. for the second world cup in a row south africa finished level on points with second place but were eliminated, this time on goal difference while it had been on goals scored in 2002. elimination in the group stage made south africa the first hosts to fail to progress beyond the first round of a world cup.
south africa national football team
bullet::::- cricket: south africa hold out in the final day of the second test against england to secure a draw, bringing to an end england's eight-game winning streak. the final score: england 139 & 570–9 dec, south africa 332 & 290–8; bad light stops play with 15 overs remaining. england are the only team to remain unbeaten at test cricket throughout 2004 – winning 11 times, drawing twice. (bbc)









































bullet::::- college football bowl games:









































bullet::::- the boston college eagles defeat the north carolina tar heels, 37–24, in the continental tire bowl. (espn)
december 2004 in sports