Cuba 1 - 4 South Africa (393584919)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 13365 to LA POLAR. Niklas Hansson was the appointed referee. Cuba decided to use a 4-5-1 set up. The following players took the field: Orozco - Zamora, Oviedo, Gonzalez, Méndez - Arias, Ulate, Lecona, Murillo, González - Marchena.

South Africa had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. They fielded: Crane - van Domburg, Sikhosana, Mere, Blayi, Lansbury - Mathibela, Vincent, Bopela - Lutuli, Mwatiwa.

South Africa preferred to finish off their attacks from a distance. Cuba's J. Lecona left the field after 15 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was A. Moreno. A. Moreno became the new Cuba captain. South Africa took the lead 18 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. D. Mwatiwa was the scorer. Q. González's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 21 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to F. Marchena who knocked it in for Cuba. 1 - 1! The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to South Africa, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

M. Blayi would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. Z. Nyoni entered the game for South Africa as the match clock showed 49 minutes. After 51 minutes, the Cuba coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving C. Gonzalez off the field. A. Solano took his place. South Africa's counterattacks created a good chance for A. Lansbury on the right after 55 minutes, but he could only look on with dismay as his strike rebounded off the crossbar. 65 minutes into the game, Cuba wanted to bring some new energy to their game. F. Marchena gave E. Aréchiga a quick hug as he left the field. Instead of playing a 50/50 ball into the penalty area, South Africa's J. Vincent skipped past the marking defender and passed the ball to Z. Nyoni who finished it off from distance. The keeper could only stand and watch as the hard shot hit the underside of the cross bar, and in to make it 1 - 2 with 72 minutes played. J. Orozco got a fingertip on M. Lutuli's shot from the left 73 minutes in, and managed to keep the visitors from going up another goal. South Africa were great at switching from defence to attack, and after 78 minutes, M. Lutuli swept through the middle on a counterattack, making the score 1 - 3. D. Mwatiwa received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 79 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 4. The South Africa fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. By now, the players in South Africa felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Content with how the game was proceeding, the South Africa coach let M. Boateng replace V. Bopela after 86 minutes. S. Crane left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 88 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. S. Orr was the replacement. South Africa had most of the ball, with 52 percent of possession.

Cuba's top performer was clearly E. Aréchiga. On the other hand, A. Moreno's play was disheartening. Most important South Africa player was D. Mwatiwa. Z. Nyoni was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 4.