The breathless draw with Mexico that kicked off Bafana Bafana’s campaign, not only produced a point, it settled plenty of nerves, especially in a defence that might have been taken apart by Carlos Vela and Giovani dos Santos in the opening exchanges at Soccer City. Bongani Khumalo, a young centre half who distinguished himself alongside Aaron Mokoena, is likely to have the task of picking up Diego Forlan, who is Uruguay’s most predictable threat.

If France were disappointing in the opening match at Cape Town, Uruguay were hardly much better and coach, Oscar Tabarez, accepted that if their World Cup record of one win in 15 matches was to improve there would have to be changes up front. This may mean dropping Forlan into a more withdrawn position and using Palermo’s Edison Cavani alongside Luis Suarez, who disappointed in the goalless draw with France.

The Loftus Versfeld Stadium is a far tighter arena than Soccer City, the noise of the vuvuzelas will be defeaning and Uruguay are less familiar at dealing with altitude than Mexico. This will be a test of nerve for La Celeste as much as anything, although South Africa must realise that the lapses of concentration that Mexico largely failed to capitalise upon will not go unpunished a second time around. Verdict: Draw.