JOHANNESBURG: Now that the pressure and tension of the opening day draw with Mexico is out of the way, South Africa is gaining confidence ahead of Wednesday’s match against a Uruguay lineup that could well field three strikers.
Although Mexico hit back in a 1-1 draw to deny the South Africans a victory at Soccer City on Friday, the hosts are satisfied that their overall performance in the game boosted their chances of beating two-time World Cup winner Uruguay at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria.
"We will be more relaxed against Uruguay now that we have Mexico out of the way. We were all nervous in that first game," midfielder Steven Pienaar said. "But we got our act together in the second half and need to continue from there against Uruguay."
With a match against France to follow at Bloemfontein on June 22, South Africa must avoid a loss against the Uruguayans, who opened with a scoreless draw against France to leave all four Group A teams with one point apiece.
The French face Mexico at Polokwane on Thursday and both those teams will know exactly what they have to do to go top.
"We simply cannot afford to lose as that would mean playing catch-up in our final group match against France," Pienaar said.
Siphiwe Tshabalala’s stunning strike against the Mexicans was one of the best ever goals in an opening game and lifted the confidence of a South African team under great pressure from the nation hosting the first World Cup on the African continent.
South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is likely to recall experienced leftback Tsepo Masilela to the starting lineup in the only expected change. He replaced Lucas Thwala in the second half against the Mexicans.
Rightback Siboniso Gaxa said he and Masilela hoped to get forward against Uruguay.
"We will have to use our wingbacks more instead of pushing into the center of the field to try and pull the Uruguay defense away," Gaxa said. "We have been working on this and aim to surprise Uruguay."
Nicolas Lodeiro is missing for Uruguay after being sent off in the draw with France but he was not expected to start anyway.
Coach Oscar Tabarez has made other changes and adjusted his lineup to play with three forwards.
Diego Forlan is expected to drop deeper and play behind Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani.
"This is a different game and another rival with totally different tactics than … France," Tabarez said. "While we try not to depend too much on our rivals, we have to take into account what our rivals do.
"With our group all level, we are not going to attack in desperation nor are we going to defend deeply. We have to show balance and patience."
European champion Spain will be one of the last two teams in action in the opening flight of group matches, a position the perennial World Cup underachiever also hopes to be in at the end of South Africa 2010.
Spain takes on Switzerland in Durban on Wednesday knowing that if it plays to its vast potential it can add the world title to its 2008 European Championship crown.
While those kinds of predictions have weighed down Spain in the past, now the team made up almost entirely of stars from Barcelona and Real Madrid is enjoying them.
"There’s high expectations because of our trajectory over the past years, people see we can play well and that’s positive," striker David Villa said. "I wouldn’t say it’s pressure, it’s more like flattery."
Spain and Switzerland have had a long wait to get their World Cup campaigns under way. They’ll be the last teams to play their first games in South Africa when they meet at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
But for Switzerland, the Group H match still comes too soon, with its experienced captain Alex Frei and West Ham midfielder Valon Behrami both out injured.
"I have decided that Alex Frei is not yet fit to play," said coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, adding that he would also leave out Behrami in an attempt to have both players fit for the following match against Chile.
Hitzfeld dismissed speculation that Frei’s World Cup is already over because of a right ankle injury as "absurd."
Frei, whose 40-goal international tally is a Swiss record, was hurt in the final squad practice before flying to South Africa last week.
Behrami strained a left thigh muscle in Switzerland’s final warmup game, a 1-1 draw against Italy on June 5.
Striker Frei may not have been busy anyway against Spain, but Switzerland will need all its defensive skills to contain Vicente del Bosque’s attacking team and its swift passing game.
"We respect to the maximum level but we know if we play at our level we’ve got chances of winning," said Villa, who was top scorer at the 2008 European Championship with four goals.
Spain has not advanced past the World Cup quarterfinals since it’s best finish — fourth — in 1950.
And while Switzerland has injury worries, Spain’s talented squad is at near full strength, with Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta declared fit by Del Bosque.
The main focus ahead of the World Cup match between Chile and Honduras has been on injuries to the two opposing strikers named Suazo.
Chile’s Humberto Suazo was top scorer in the South American qualifiers with 10 goals but injured his right thigh two weeks ago.
The initial prognosis was that the Zaragoza striker would be sidelined for three weeks, but his recovery has been quicker than expected and coach Marcelo Bielsa said he would be available for Wednesday’s opener.
For Honduras, Genoa forward David Suazo also has a right thigh injury but — unlike his namesake — seems unlikely to have shaken off the problem in time.
Regardless of injuries, Chile will be favorite to make a winning start at the Mbombela stadium after finishing just a point behind Brazil in the South American qualifiers and holding the No. 18 world ranking, 20 spots above Honduras.
With Switzerland next up on June 21 and Spain to follow on June 25, Chile needs a positive result from the Honduras match to stand a realistic chance of progression.
There is one further motivation for starting with a win: it’s 48 years since the South American side last tasted victory in the World Cup, going 13 matches since beating Yugoslavia to finish third in 1962 when it hosted the tournament.
In it’s first World Cup appearance since 1998, Chile will be hoping to end that run as soon as possible.
Honduras, on the other hand, has never won a World Cup match. The only other Honduras qualified for the finals was in 1982 when it held Spain and Northern Ireland to draws but lost to Yugoslavia to finish bottom of the group.
Some claim the side will struggle to do better this time round, but a sprinkling of players from Europe’s top leagues means Honduras has reasons for optimism.
