Urugway, France tie 0-0 at half time
By admin, IANSFriday, June 11, 2010
CAPE TOWN - Former world champions, Uruguay and France, tied 0-0 at half time as they encountered in the first round of FIFA World Cup here Friday.
Both sides appeared in good form, especially their stars Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez, Franck Ribery and Nicolas Anelka.
In the eye-catching tit-for-tat attacks, the great chance for France appeared in the 8th minute when Ribery ran down the left and cut the ball to Govou who missed the target. Govou has not scored for France since September 2008.
The first chance for Uruguay came in the 17th minute when ace striker Forlan danced past French defence line but his right-footed shot stang the palms of goalie Hugo Lliris.
On 19 minutes, French midfielder Yoann Gourcuff’s left-foot free kick from 35 yards almost curled into the top corner.
French midfielder Abou Diaby, who looked impressive, muscled his way through midfield in the 31st minute and played an excellent pass towards Govou. But Anelka pinched it off him and was offside.
In the tough first half, Ribery and Evra each got a yellow card.
It’s the eighth time that the two World Cup winners have met in the first round, with five of those matches finishing all square.
Earlier, in Group A, host South Africa pulled out a 1-1 tie with Mexico Friday in the 2010 World Cup opener.
