Hosts South Africa, Mexico draw in World Cup opener

JOHANNESBURG - Hosts South Africa and Mexico played to an exciting 1-1 draw in the opening game of the 2010 World Cup at Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium.

A stunning 55th-minute strike from Siphiwe Tshabalala, against the run of play, saw the Bafana Bafana go in front of an ecstatic near-capacity crowd. In the 79th, Rafael Marquez earned Mexico the well-deserved equalizer with a short-range effort that,

only briefly, silenced the vuvuzelas.

Before the game, the first World Cup ever to take place on African soil was officially declared open by the country’s president, Jacob Zuma.