World Cup 2010 Live

The 2010 World Cup finals live opening match will be the host country South Africa up against Mexico in Group A. South Africa will create history in the match as they will be the first ever African country to host a World Cup finals. The buildup to the opener will be keenly felt not just amongst fans in the country but also across the continent as many Africans are proud to have one of their brother nations showing that they are capable of bringing the best footballing nations together and organising a great tournament. But the serious business starts now on the pitch the moment the whistle blows and South Africa will want nothing but a win against Mexico in order to keep the interest from home fans high throughout the tournament.

South Africa have many good players in their teams, most notably that of Everton's Steven Pienaar, Portsmouth's Aaron Mokoena, West Ham's Benni McCarthy and FC Twente's Bernard Parker. They are the most famous players to have played outside the country and will lead the rest of the locally based players as they hope to bring glory and World Cup wins for the Bafana Bafana. Pienaar will be the player that may be the most important for the team as he has enjoyed a great season with his club and is now considered one of the best players in the world since many European clubs are trying to sign him from Everton. Pienaar hopes to put that aside for the duration of the tournament while he tries his best to help his country to a good World Cup finals campaign.

There is much worry amongst South Africa football fans that their country may not do that well in the World Cup 2010 finals. This is due to the poor results the team has gotten in the many friendlies they have played in the last two years. It is admitted that the South Africa team has experienced a decline in standard although to justify the dip, the team is trying to rebuild and has not had much luck with managers. Their current coach Carlos Alberto Parreira only just made a return to the post after taking over from Joel Santana who had a poor time in charge due to various reasons. South Africa did do rather well under the Brazilian and many hope that the former World Cup winner can also work some magic with the Bafana Bafana.

Our South Africa v Mexico live preview will not be complete without an assessment of the Central Americans in this fixture. Mexico are a regular qualifier for the World Cup finals due to their dominance in the CONCACAF region. While they did experience some good fortune to make it this far this time, they are now focused on the future and have already started their preparations earlier compared to many other finalists. Compared to their hosts, Mexico have a squad that features more foreign based players and many of them are indeed potential future stars in the sport. Some of them include Carlos Vela of Arsenal, Javier Hernandez who just signed for Manchester United, Guillermo Franco of West Ham, Giovani dos Santos who plays for Galatasaray, Jonathan dos Santos who is part of the great Barcelona team, Rafael Marquez who also plies his trade with the Spanish champions, and Hector Moreno who is hoping to make an impression with the national team as well as AZ Alkmaar of Holland.

If disciplinarian coach Javier Aguirre can build on the good work and foundations he laid down when he took over during the World Cup qualifiers from the admittedly disastrous Sven Goran Eriksson, there can be no mistaking the fact that the current Mexico national football team can make a huge impact at the 2010 South Africa finals. Several of the players are young, talented and very hungry and these are the attributes that Aguirre has brought together to ensure the team remains united and eager for success. They have made the round of 16 in each of their last four finals appearances and hope to at least go one better this time by reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 1986 when the World Cup was held in Mexico.

The South Africa v Mexico live preview will kick off on 11 June 2010 when the two teams open the tournament in the Soccer City Stadium of Johannesburg.