Officially, They’re Not Too Happy About a Tie
Players from South Africa and Denmark were equally exasperated, which was only fitting because they scored an equal number of goals Thursday and were victims of an equal number of odd calls in a game that wasn’t as contentious as the tournament-high total of three ejections and seven yellow-card cautions would suggest.
And the 1-1 Group C draw they played Thursday before a sun-drenched crowd of 33,300 at Stadium Municipal was a sideways step for both.
Benedict McCarthy scored the first goal in South Africa’s World Cup history, but his team still has yet to defeat a European team in 70 games. Denmark started so well, its coach expected his team to score four or five goals. However, it finished playing nine on 10 and clinging to a point after referee John Jairo Toro Rendon of Colombia sandwiched ejections of Denmark’s Miklos Molnar in the 68th minute and Morten Wieghorst in the 85th minute around an ejection of South Africa’s Alfred Phiri in the 69th minute.
There had been only four red cards in the tournament’s previous 21 games.
“I didn’t think it was a particularly high-pitched game. It was well played and there was no bad tackling,” Danish defender Marc Rieper said. “Seven yellow cards and three reds, that’s a bit ridiculous. I think [Toro Rendon] lost the game completely.
“It’s not like we could say he was particularly bad for us. He was just brutal. It was a joke.”
No one on either side was laughing.
“I think [Toro Rendon] lost control of the game,” South African midfielder John Moshoeu said. “It’s too bad. You have to go out there and control the game, and he didn’t.”
Denmark controlled the pace early, creating many chances and finishing one in the 13th minute. Completing a beautiful passing play, Allan Nielsen cut through the box to take a cross from Brian Laudrup and fire a right-footed volley past goalkeeper Hans Vonk.
Moments later, a Danish corner kick was tipped off the goal post by Vonk, and Ebbe Sand hit the outside of the right post as the first half waned.
“We had a good start and played very good football for the first 15 or 20 minutes,” said Bo Johansson, the Swede who coaches Denmark. “We didn’t play most of the rest of the game well, so we have to accept this. But we must admit this was a strange game.”
McCarthy, the 20-year-old sensation who made a rapid recovery from an ankle injury he suffered in South Africa’s 3-0 tournament-opening loss to France, brought South Africa even in the 52nd minute when he took a short pass from Shaun Bartlett and sent a bouncing, left-footed shot between the legs of Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.
“We never stopped playing. We kept coming at them,” McCarthy said. “I’m confident and I’m hoping maybe I can get another one or two. Being young and scoring a goal in the World Cup, it’s fantastic. You can’t ask for better.”
For better officiating, perhaps. South Africa Coach Philippe Troussier theorized Toro Rendon overreacted to comments made this week by Michel Platini, the former French star who is co-president of the World Cup Organizing Committee. Platini chided referees for not adhering to FIFA’s directive on penalizing players for tackling opponents from behind and said the referees were too timid. Toro Rendon was hardly timid Thursday.
“Platini talked about it and the referees know about it,” Troussier said. “The problem is, we’re in a transition period. FIFA was very clear about what it wanted.”
The first red card, shown to Molnar, was for a tackle on Lucas Radebe just outside the box that Radebe embellished with the usual writhing on the ground in apparent agony. He was back in the game within minutes.
Phiri was sent off for a tackle on Denmark’s Thomas Helveg. And Wieghorst’s ejection, which inspired fans to hold up their own red cards, resulted from his tackle of McCarthy only three minutes after Wieghorst had entered the game.
South Africa came breathtakingly close to winning the game in injury time, when Quinton Fortune’s left-footed shot struck the crossbar.
The Danes need a tie with France on Wednesday to advance to the second round. South Africa needs to beat Saudi Arabia by two goals and hope for a Danish loss.
“It’s disappointing. We should have made more opportunities 10 against 11,” South Africa defender Mark Fish said. “Things haven’t gone our way in the tournament so far, with injuries and whatnot. But we’ve got to keep our heads up.”
Said Johansson: “If we ever think we know how a football game will be, we should just remember this game.”
