FIFA World Cup 2010 Match Day 1

Many think that the 2010 FIFA World Cup starts tonight with the grand opening ceremony tonight at 6 PM EDT / 4 PM PDF, but the actual World Cup will only start when the referee signals the beginning of the first match tomorrow.

There are two matches scheduled for the first day of the World Cup: South Africa vs. Mexico in Johannesburg and France vs. Uruguay in Cape Town.

The first match starts at 4 PM at the recently reconstructed Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, the one that hosts the first and the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The South African team will be accompanied by the Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parriera who has coached many African, Brazilian teams and even the national football team of Saudi Arabia. The Mexican team was coached by the Mexican coach Javier Aguirre, with a history of working with Spanish teams like Atletico Madrid and Osasuna and more Mexican teams. The referee of this match is Ravshan Irmatov from Uzbekistan.

The second match of Day 1 will take place at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town at 20:30 between the teams of France and Uruguay. The French team was coached by Raymond Domenech who has experience with world cups, being the coach of the French national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and taking it to the finals. The Uruguay team is coached by Oscar Tabarez, former football player (he has played at the 1990 FIFA World Cup). The referee of this match is Yuichi Nishimura from Japan.

May the best team win!