South Africa United

This blogger was celebrating his third birthday on the day Nelson Mandela was released and despite not remembering the event myself the images of his long walk to freedom on February 11th 1990 still resonate around the world. How sad it is then that Nelson Mandela will not be taking part in the Opening Ceremony on the 2010 World Cup later today. Reportedly suffering from failing health Mandela was given the tragic news of the death of his great grandaughter late last night. Her death in a road accident is not just a personal tragedy but one that is shared across the globe. Tonight was to be Nelson's night and his chance to bow out on the World Stage having delivered his vision of a united South Africa. The explosion of colour will be that less brilliant and the cacophany of sound that quieter without the presence of the great man. The grandfather of the Rainbow nation may not be present but his vision will be spectacularly played out on over a billion television screens.

On the pitch tonight South Africa have a tricky opening match against Mexico whilst Raymond Domenech's France play Uruguay.

Despite being the lowest ranked host in World Cup History South Africa will draw on their recent form and attempt to invoke the spirit shown by South Korea when they upset the odds as hosts in 2002 (contraversially) beating Spain and Italy on the way to the Semi Finals. Much will depend on the form of Everton playmaker Steven Pienaar but they face a stiff test against a Mexican side who were unfortunate to go down to a 3-1 Friendly defeat against England recently. They boast the attacking threat of Manchester United bound Javier Hernandez but despite their undoubted ability going forward serious question marks remain over their defence that looked fragile at Wembley. In spite of their deficiencies expect the Mexicans to advance to the last 16 repeating a feat they have achieved in the last 4 World Cups.

France will need to put their reported infighting out of their minds and quickly in tonight's second game. Whilst France's technical ability cannot be doubted their coach Domenech is almost as unpredictable as Diego Maradona and is known to select players depending on their star sign compatibility. Despite reaching the Final last time France required a play-off to qualify for this years event and relied on 'that' goal from Thierry Henry to sneak past a desperately unlucky Ireland. Along with maintaining their own levels of concentration les Blues will need to beware of the threat posed by the Uraguay forward pairing of Diego Forlan of Athletico Madrid and Ajax's Luiz Suarez who scored an impressive 53 League goals between them last season. Expect a close match with the winner in prime position to qualify along with Mexico, the French should be fearing a repeat of their terrible showing in 2002 when they were unceremoniously dumped out at the Group Stage without scoring a single goal.

I'll be back tomorrow to preview England's first game against the USA.