Mexico celebrates after Sithole’s lonely walk highlights South Africa’s World Cup struggles
Late rain can’t dampen spirits as co-hosts begin tournament with win to get 2026 party started, although red cards cast shadow on proceedings
He sang and danced his way out of the Azteca Stadium tunnel to warm up along with the rest of his South Africa teammates on Friday, but Sphephelo Sithole made the return journey about two hours later as a lonely man in a stadium of more than 80,000 delirious souls.
The biggest day of the 29-year-old’s sporting life, his first World Cup finals appearance, began badly. Cheaply conceding possession deep in his own territory, Sithole invited Julian Quinones to lash in the ninth-minute goal that established Mexican supremacy in their comfortable 2-0 win.
Things got worse for the midfielder when he was sent off soon after half-time, rightly in the opinion of his manager, Hugo Broos, for a professional foul on Brian Gutierrez. Sithole slumped on his knees as if dealt a gut punch by Saul Alvarez, the famed pugilist revered in these parts, before slowly climbing to his feet and traipsing from the field to the sound of thousands of fans revelling in his misery.
From the dressing room, Sithole would have heard the piercing roars that greeted Raul Jimenez putting Mexico two up.
Nearly six years after he suffered a fractured skull that threatened his life, the visibly emotional Jimenez’s goal was the first he had scored from four World Cup finals tournaments.
It was always going to be a day that moved the senses, for good or for bad. Mexico City was wide-awake and bustling soon after dawn. After waiting 40 years since they lost the 1986 quarter-final on penalties to West Germany, there were finally no more sleeps before Mexico again played at home in a World Cup.