Mexico got the World Cup party started as the co-hosts swept away South Africa 2-0 on Thursday in an encounter with three red cards at a thrumming Azteca stadium.

Match Highlights

Julian Quinones’s early strike set the tone for a dominant Mexican display in the Group A encounter with Raul Jimenez’s header midway through the second half removing any lingering tension for the home crowd.

South Africa were reduced to 10 men when Sphephelo Sithole was sent off early in the second half, with his teammate Themba Zwane following him off the pitch before Mexico’s Cesar Montes was dismissed in the dying moments.

The ill-tempered encounter spoiled an otherwise party atmosphere, yet the home crowd got to celebrate an opening victory that will set them up nicely to make it out of a group that also includes South Korea and the Czech Republic.

Player Reaction

“It’s a moment I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life,” said Mexico midfielder Erik Lira. “The only thing I felt was that everything it took to get here had been worth it.”

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.