1 of 2

Write now Article Tools

Spain twice had to face South Africa in the Confederations Cup 2009, and both times it was the Spanish that emerged victorious. 2-0 Spain won the game in the group stage, with David Villa and Fernando Llorente providing the goals in that one. The most exciting game came when the two teams met in the third-place play-off tie however, and this is the game that I'm talking about here.

Many expected Spain to reach the final, shockingly Spain lost out in the semi-final to the USA however, and Spain therefore had to play one final Confederations Cup game against South Africa to see which team would finish the tournament third, and which would come fourth. Spain was the definite favourite team to win this one, and having already defeated South Africa in the tournament; it didn't seem that it would be a problem for Spain to come out and do it again. South Africa put up a strong fight though, and surprised Spain by going 1-0 up through Katlego Mphela in the 73rd minute of the match. This late goal looked as though it might have won the match for South Africa, and the team then defended hard in a quest to come third.

Despite South Africa's attempts to keep the Spanish away from the goal; Spain eventually broke through, and equalised in the 88th minute through Dani Guiza. All South Africa's hard work had ultimately been undone, and as South Africa tried to come to terms with the equaliser; Dani Guiza struck again, and silenced the South African crowd as the scoreline now read Spain 2-1 South Africa.

South Africa could have switched off at this point, the team kept their heads held high however, and four minutes later had reason to celebrate as Katlego Mphela scored again to seal a dramatic equaliser. South Africa had looked beaten and out, the side was now back in it though, and the game was to go to extra-time.

South Africa had done well to fight their way back into this one, and now had 30 minutes to try and find a winner. Both teams looked tired in injury time, and the tournament had understandably taken its toll; Spain had slightly more in the tank than South Africa though, and Liverpool's Xabi Alonso was able to go on and win it for Spain with his goal. South Africa had shown fantastic strength throughout the match, Spain had done it though, and this exciting third-place play-off game finished 3-2 in Spain's favour.

South Africa may have lost the match, they certainly didn't disgrace themselves though, and showed in this tournament that they may well achieve some degree of success in next year's World Cup. The South African national football team is ranked 70th in the world by FIFA right now, on home turf the team fought well against Spain though, and also lost only to a late goal against Brazil. Against two of the best teams in the world, South Africa didn't look too out of place at all, and it'll definitely be interesting to see what the team can do next summer.

Well done to Spain for finishing third in the Confederations Cup 2009, and congratulations to South Africa also for putting up such a strong fight.

Learn more about this author, Richard Leigh.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Soccer match analysis: Spain vs. South Africa, Confederations Cup 2009?
We want to hear your view. Write now!