Three red cards as Mexico beat South Africa in fiery World Cup clash

Mexico national football team made sure their World Cup campaign got a winning start with victory over South Africa national football team by a scoreline of 2-0 in an intense match that saw lots of goalmouth action as well as three red cards being dished out.

The match started with lots of action and the team representing Mexico did not take long before making an impact. In just the ninth minute, the Mexicans found the back of the net through Julián Quiñones who made good use of a pass from Erick Lira.

Teboho Mokoena earned his team’s first yellow card in the 17th minute. Brian Gutierrez of Mexico followed suit six minutes after earning his team’s first booking in the contest. At the end of first half, Mexico led 1-0.

Any hopes of a South African comeback were quickly shattered four minutes after the resumption. This is because Siyabonga Sithole was issued a straight red in the 49th minute.

Mexico capitalized on this edge. Raúl Jiménez netted the second goal at the 67th mark, finishing an assist from Roberto Alvarado to take the scoreline to 2-0 and soothe any anxieties the Mexicans might have felt.

South African team was unable to hold its cool later in the game. Nkosinathi Sibisi picked up a yellow card in the 74th minute, followed by Themba Zwane being shown the yellow card after the referee reviewed the incident using VAR technology in the 84th minute.

However, Mexico were not completely free of fouls as well. The Mexicans got one red card towards the end of the game in the form of César Montes, who saw red in the 90+2 minute.

Mexico thus secure three precious points in what serves as their first World Cup game, whereas South Africa will be going home without points and two suspensions.