Archbishop Desmond Tutu may have been excited at last night's World Cup concert when he proclaimed 'We are all Africans' but at ten past five this afternoon all of Africa became South Africans; when Siphiwe Tshabalala scored the first goal in a World Cup Finals match to be held on African soil.

The goal came after a masterstroke half-time substitution by Carlos Alberto Parreira. Bringing in Maccabi Haifa's Tsepo Masilela at Left Back made the left hand side attacking threat more lively and on the second rush in less than 10 minutes of the re-start, Siphiwe Tshabalala sprinted down the wing and struck the ball cleanly past a stranded Óscar Pérez.

Needing to change the balance of play, Javier Aguirre used all his three substitutes within twenty minutes of South Africa taking the lead.

The vuvuzelas were briefly silenced in the 79th minute as, out of three unmarked Mexicans at the far post, Barcelona's Rafael Marquez was the one to break towards Itumeleng Khune.

With a sleight feignting move (FIFA only disallow feinting at penalty kicks) from Marquez, Khune fell onto his rear and the Mexican was able to cooly pick his spot between the South African goalkeeper and the near post.

Then the vuvuzela humming sound picked up again.

In the 90th minute, Katlego Mphela was released and outpaced the retreating Mexican defence. As the angle became ever tighter, Mphela couldn't believe that his shot hit the post.

What a finish that would have been to the first World Cup Finals match in Africa.

South Africa 1 Mexico 1