South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said this morning's 1 1 draw with Mexico in the FIFA World Cup opener had "broken the ice" for the hosts despite the heart break of conceding a late goal.

South Africa, who sent their supporters wild when they took the lead through Siphiwe Tshabalala's superb 55th minute drive, were pegged back by Rafael Marquez's equaliser in the 79th minute.

The Bafana Bafana then came agonisingly close to sneaking a win right at the death when striker Katlego Mphela hit the post after outpacing two defenders.

But Parreira said he thought the draw at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium was a fair result and after seeing his side grow in confidence as the game wore on, said his team are now set up in their bid to qualify from Group A.

And the Brazilian praised his players for the way they coped with the pressure from a crowd of nearly 85,000.

Parreira, who took his native Brazil to a FIFA World Cup triumph in the United States in 1994, praised the passionate crowd, who created a wall of deafening noise with thousands of vuvuzela trumpets blowing throughout the game.

Meanwhile, in the second match this morning, Uruguay held France to a 0-all draw.

Uruguay was unlucky after they were handed the first red card of the tournament to Nicholas Lodeiro, in the 77th minute of play.

The last game of the day is at 11:30pm tonight, where Korea meet Greece.