The second game of the World Cup 2010 also ended a tie, with both Uruguay and France having a mediocre performance in Cape town yesterday. Now all teams of Group A in South Africa are tied, having just one point each after game day one of the group stage. French coach Raymond Domenech insisted on the team that was so heavily criticised during the preparation period as well as France’s latest friendly matches.
Domenech decided to start with Abou Diaby instead of Florent Malouda, and also left Thierry Henry on the bench (as expected) with Nicolas Anelka leading the offence. Both Uruguay and France were equal for the biggest part of the game, with the French having a slight advantage and higher ball possession in the first few minutes. Sidney Govou lost a great chance in the 7th minute to open the score for France, after a combined effort with Franck Ribéry. Anelka and Yoann Gourcuff also missed a couple of good shots, leaving Domenech beating himself by the bench. Uruguay was trying to take advantage of counter attacks, mostly with vice-captain Diego Forlán.
The rhythm of the game remained the same during the second half, with both Uruguay and France looking scared to open up and try something different. Despite France being the slightly better team on the field, Uruguay lost the biggest chance of the game with Forlán missing a great opportunity on the 73rd minute. Malouda and Henry came into the game for France, and Sebastián Abreu substituted Luis Suárez for Uruguay, but the slow game remained.
Uruguay’s position in the match became even tougher when Nicolás Lodeiro was sent out after a hard tackle on Bacary Sagna at 82′. France took the player advantage and pushed even harder for the last few minutes without any success, therefore keeping the World Cup tradition of not scoring a goal in their tournament openers (last time was in 1986).
Diego Forlán of Uruguay was the MVP of the World Cup 2010 game between Uruguay and France.
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GREAT GAME!