On Opening Day (2 days!!!): Predicting who will win the opening match

For those who don't know, the opening match of the World Cup is this Friday at 10:00 AM (EST), and is South Africa vs. Mexico. In my mind, the winner of this match will have a great chance to advance and the loser will be out of the Cup altogether.

Predicting this match is tricky, as predicting any match that takes place in Group A (Uruguay, France, Mexico, South Africa) will be, because they are all pretty evenly matched, especially with the way France has been playing in the friendly matches. The only team that isn't considered to be as good is South Africa, and they have an obvious advantage, being the home team. No country that has hosted the World Cup has ever failed to make it out of the Group Stages. That will come in when predicting who will win the opening match of the World Cup. Without further ado, the winner of the opening match, I will also attempt to predict the score:

South Africa 3-2 Mexico.

I think South Africa will take this game, but I think they'll take it very closely. Even though Mexico has beaten Italy in the friendly matches, and is by all accounts a major dark horse in the tournament, I just don't see how they will be able to beat the home team.

This World Cup marks the first time that the tournament has ever taken place in Africa. South African legend/freedom fighter/god Nelson Mandela is going to be at this game. Furthermore, South Africa has been absolutely drumming their competition in the friendlies, beating Guatemala 5-0. They even beat Denmark 1-0, which is a major achievement considering what a hot streak that particular team has been on. These guys are going to be playing out of their minds.

Mexico won't go down without a fight though, and it will be a beautiful one. These are two teams from opposite ends of the world, but in many ways the play the same style of football. Loose, flowing playing style that relies on build-up passing just as much as miraculous individual effort could characterize either of these teams. Expect a game full of last ditch crosses, great ball movement, and plenty of skills on display (particularly watch for Mexican Giovani Dos Santos in the skills department). But I give the home team the edge.