South Africa make it a difficult three points for Argentina

The third women's game of day two saw the much anticipated return to World Cup action of eight times Player of the Year Luciana Aymar and the talented Las Leonas as they took on 12th-ranked South Africa. The game went according to the form books but a spirited South African defence put up a strong resistance in the early stages of the game and also scored a consolation goal against the run of play. The match finished 4-1 and was a performance that indicated that Argentina have not come out of the starting block firing on all cylinders.

While Argentina had the lion's share of possession in both halves and spent large periods of play in the South Africa half of the pitch, coach Giles Bonnet will be pleased with his team's discipline in the face of the unrelenting pressure to which the number two-ranked team in the world subjected his team. The South Africa captain Marsha Cox said: "We knew that the focus today would be on defence, and to be honest we are pleased with our performance. We build on that from this point."

With South Africa adopting a structured defensive press and the hard-working midfield duo of Cox and Shelley Russell keeping the Argentine players under pressure, it took 25 minutes for Las Leonas to make the breakthrough. The sight of record goal scorer Pietie Coetzee playing a defensive role following her late inclusion in the squad points to the defensive approach taken by the South Africa coaching team.

The opening goal for Argentina came from the fourth penalty corner awarded. D'Elia (25') struck the ball with sweet precision past the 'keeper Annelle van Deventer, who had been excellent to that point. Having found the net, D'Elia (27') scored again just two minutes later and at the half-time break Argentina held a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Five minutes after the break Noel Barrionuevo (40') found the net from a penalty corner variation, but it was another 20 minutes before Argentina scored again, this time through a well-taken shot from wide by Delfina Merino (60'). South Africa were rewarded for their hard work when Tarryn Bright got on the end of a cross, thus reducing the lead to 4-1 but as Cox said: "We focused so much on defending today that we almost forgot our attacking skills, that is something we will address before the next game."

Delfino Merino, speaking after the game, said: "We are very happy to take the three points, and I am glad I played my part by scoring a goal, but we were very nervous in the opening minutes of the game and South Africa played well. This is what we must remember, every team coming here will be hoping to perform at their very best."

Official Match Report (PDF)