 South Africa moved into second spot in group B and a potential next phase
clash with Germany - or even the Republic of Ireland - after securing their
first-ever World Cup win.
A fourth-minute goal from Udinese striker Siyabonga Nomvete was enough to
settle the issue and send Slovenia out of the tournament.
But South Africa know they must still get something from their last game
against leaders Spain with out-of-sorts Slovenia unlikely to trouble Paraguay on
such form.
Before the game, much of the talk had centred around Slovenia coach Srecko
Katanec's decision to quit after the tournament following a bust-up with star
player Zlatko Zahovic.
And things soon got worse as they conceded an early goal to South Africa in
the heat of Daegu.
Manchester United winger Quinton Fortune was fouled out on the left and when
he curled the free-kick into the box, Nomvete appeared unmarked
six yards out to send the ball past a startled Andre Arendse off his knee.
The goal left Slovenia really up against it and they seemed unable to inject
any fire into their game in the intense humidity and South Africa dictated the
play.
Zahovic's expulsion robbed the Slovenians of their one real creative force.
Katanec's performance on the line seemed to betray the Slovenians' true
feelings: Arms wide and complaining at his players for simple errors. It did not
bode well, and they did not perform well.
It was 34 minutes before they had a serious chance when Doni Novak did well to
get down the right and cut inside to find a shooting chance he spurned in favour
of a pass back to Milenko Acimovic, who drove over from 18 yards.
Slovenia's problems increased when they had to substitute the limping
Sebastjan Cimirotic five minutes before the break, Milan Osterc taking over up
front.
Benni McCarthy, the Porto hitman, almost made it two after 49 minutes, turning
on the edge of the box to strike a blistering drive that Marko Simeunovic
somehow got a hand to, deflecting the rising effort over the bar.
McCarthy then went close again on 64 minutes when he hit the angle with a
header from a clever chip from Fortune on the left.
And then a minute later McCarthy, again, turned in the box to strike a fierce
drive from a Sibusiso Zuma cross that only Simeunovic knows how he got in the
way of.
On 70 minutes, the subsitute Nastja Ceh produced a point blank header beaten out by Arendse
that suggested Slovenia could salvage something.
Substitute Delron Buckley, after being played clear, could have wrapped things
up with five minutes left but could not beat an exposed Simeunovic.
South Africa
Andre Arendse, Cyril Nzama, Lucas Radebe, Aaron Mokoena, Bradley Carnell, Sibusisu Zuma, MacBeth Sibaya, Tebeho Mokoena, Quinton Fortune (Jabu Pule 84), Siyabonga Nomvethe (Delron Buckley 71), Benni McCarthy (George Koumantarakis 80).
Goal: Nomvethe 4.
Slovenia
Marko Simeunovic, Zelijko Milinovic, Muamer Vugdalic, Aleksander Knavs (Spasoje Bulajic 60), Djoni Novak, Ales Ceh, Miran Pavlin, Amir Karic, Milenko Acimovic (Nastja Ceh 60), Mladen Rudonja, Sebastjan Cimirotic (Milan Osterc 41).
Attendance: 47,226 |
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