Pretoria - Bafana Bafana's hopes of progressing to the next round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup were dashed when they suffered a disappointing 3-nil defeat in the hands of Uruguay on Wednesday evening.
The national team will now have to beat 1998 champions, France, in Bloemfontein next week, if they are to have any hope of a place in the second round of the tournament.
It was striker Diego Forlan's unexpected strike in the 25th minute that first signaled that things were not going all that well for the national squad. .
Goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was caught unaware and Forlan wasted no time and gave the South American's a lead with his brilliant finish.
Bafana on the other hand, did not look like they were going to trouble Uruguay on the night with the first shot on target coming only in the 69th minute.
The boys in green and gold were sent into panic mode as early as the 5th minute of the game as midfielder Steven Pienaar picked up an early yellow card after he committed an offence during Uruguay's free kick.
The rest of the first 10 minutes continued to look dangerous for Bafana as they battled to keep the South Americans at bay as the latter continued to press on with their attack.
As if things couldn't get worse, referee Massimo Busacca gave Khune a red card for his tackle on Luis Suarez in the penalty area. Substitute Moneeb Josephs failed to put out the fire and the South American's netted their second goal through a penalty strike by Forlan, ensuring his brace for the night. Alvaro Pereira put the final nail on the national team's coffin when he scored goal number three for Uruguay.
Tshepo Masilela was the only change in the home team's line-up coming in for Lucas Thwala whom he substituted in the game against Mexico.
As expected Siphiwe Tshabalala led Bafana's attack. His two attempts at goal in the 15th minute were not good enough as they failed to open a much needed lead for the national side.
Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira tried to beef up the midfield when he introduced Surprise Moriri in the second half in place of Reneilwe Letsholonyane whose game in the last two matches has been far from impressive.
But, despite the heavy loss, captain Aaron Mokoena seemed positive after the match, saying it's not over as Bafana still have a game against France in their next group match in Mangaung.
