Bafana Bafana will be distraught at the result of the FIFA World Cup's opening match, losing 2-0 to Mexico at the Estadio Azteca, but more brutal was the loss of two players to red cards.
Yaya Sithole and Themba Zwane saw straight reds for heavy tackles, though Mexico also lost a player right at the end of the match. All three are thus ruled out of their teams' next fixture, which for Bafana is against Czechia on the 18th.
Read below as to how it all went down.
Bafana Bafana opened the scoring with a Siphiwe Tshabalala thunderbolt when the teams kicked off the 2010 World Cup at Soccer City in Johannesburg 16 years ago to the day. Rafael Márquez equalised to salvage a point. After South Africa lost 3-0 to Uruguay in their next game, they could not recover and bowed out in style with a 2-1 win over France.
South Africa are chasing their first knockout stage appearance at the FIFA World Cup, while Mexico will be chasing their first ever semi-final spot.
