Match 2 Review - France v Uruguay

France 0 - 0 Uruguay [Full-Time]

This was a dull affair in comparison to the opening match. Both sides did not play to their potential and it was a very stop-start affair. The Japanese referee officiating was conned by a number of dives from the Uruguayans and constantly had his whistle in his mouth. The biggest moment of the match was the sending off of Lodeiro for his second bookable offence, he had only come on in the second half.

The goal keepers in this match were far more assured and reinforced my initial opinion that the Mexican keeper Perez seems below par. The infamous Jabulani ball almost caused an embarrassment for French keeper Hugo Lloris as it skipped of the surface and out of grasp of his outstretched gloves, he was able to parry it and then collect it on second attempt without any damage done.

The playing surface, rated as the best in the country by Fifa, appeared quite slippery as there were numerous instances or the players losing their feet (even the ref nearly wiped on one occasion). This was probably down to the 'due' factor which is commonly referred to in cricket matches under lights. The match kicked off at 8:30pm and so it appears they was a fair amount of due on the surface and other teams playing the late fixture will have to take note and maybe adjust their footwear to handle the conditions.

Nothing much else to write home about, the French team is made up of quite a few stars and on their day they have the potential to overcome any opponent. The Uruguay side have got a good striking force but overall (from their first performance) don't match the caliber of the Mexican side. The next match between SA v Uruguay and France v Mexico will be crucial to the outcome of this group, for now its all square at 1 point a piece.