By Matt Bellotti

After years of anticipation the first ever World Cup on the African continent kicked off on Friday night and Kuala Lumpur was positively buzzing with noise and excitement. Crowds in bars, mamak stalls and especially up at Resorts World Genting, Time Out KL’s viewing party partner for the tournament, got into the spirit of Football Fever as the matches were played out.

    Siphiwe Tshabalala scored possibly the best opening goal in any finals to send the vuvuzela-wielding home crowd into delirium at Soccer City Johannesburg on Friday before Rafael Marquez equalised to give Mexico the draw that was the least their dominance deserved. Though try telling that to the South Africans.

    Later that night France and Uruguay played out a match that did nothing for the reputation for the World Cup as the greatest show on earth, their bore draw not even livened up by the peculiar moods of oddball French manager Raymond Domenech.

    Onto Saturday and South Korea provided the tournament’s first victors with a very good performance against the below-par Greeks. They were ahead within seven minutes courtesy of a good finish by centre half Lee Jung-soo and then the same amount of time into the second half the three points were made safe by Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung after a dreadful touch by Greek defender Loukas Vyntra.

    Diego Maradona was very satisfied with his Argentina side’s opening game after Gabriel Heinze scored a blinding header to condemn Nigeria to a 1-0 reverse. It wasn’t vintage Argentina but the signs are good that this extremely talented unit can live up to the billing their individual genius suggests, despite the erratic behaviour and selection of their manager.

    The late game on Saturday provided the biggest talking point of the World Cup so far with hapless West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green virtually throwing the ball into his own net to give the USA a draw in a game where England had until then looked pretty comfortable. Steven Gerrard had given the Three Lions the lead in as little as four minutes after a superb pass from Emile Heskey but that was as good as it got for England who will now look for maximum points from their remaining two group games to avoid the likelihood of an encounter with arch-foes Germany in Round Two.

    The other game in Group C took place on Sunday as a late Robert Koren strike was utterly missed by Algerian keeper Faouzi Chaouchi and tumbled into the bottom corner for Slovenia’s first ever win at the World Cup. Sitting proudly at the top of the group, Slovenia know a draw against the US in their next game might be enough (and a win definitely would) to send them into the next round against all the odds.

    Onto Group D and Ghana provided the African continent with its first win at the fourth attempt when the Black Stars pounced late on to claim a 1-0 win over Serbia. Ghana had been the better side in an exciting but tight game and will surely progress along with a rampant Germany after both sides have given their opponents an uphill battle to catch them.

    Germany humiliated Australia who had key man Tim Cahill sent off after 55 minutes with the score 2-0, going on to record the biggest win of the 2010 World Cup so far: 4-0. German World Cup specialists Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose defied their mediocre (or indeed abysmal in the case of Podolski) domestic form to put their side ahead, Thomas Mueller and Cacau completing the scoring. The game was run by youngster Mezut Ozil who confirmed Time Out KL’s pre-tournament prediction (June 2010 issue) of him being ‘One To Watch’.

    Tonight, Monday June 14, sees the first action in Group E & F with The Netherlands hoping to lay down a marker against Denmark, Japan aiming to avoid the wrath of Samuel Eto’o and his Cameroonian colleagues, before Italy face Paraguay in an intriguing battle of technique and tactics.

Throughout the World Cup, Resorts World Genting are showing ALL the action on the BIGGEST SCREEN IN MALAYSIA, with RM2million worth of big prizes that must be won, including 2 Kia cars and 3 trips to South Africa for the finals!

Time Out KL has two World Cup viewing parties this week at the Genting International Show Rood (next to the casino), Level 2, Genting Hotel on Friday 18 and Saturday 20 June (Please note: the buses scheduled for Thursday 17 June have been cancelled, although the games will still be screened up at Genting). Fans can enjoy the atmosphere with drinks promotions, special offers and a buzzing crowd while watching Germany Vs Serbia, Slovenia Vs USA, England Vs Algeria, Netherlands Vs Japan, Ghana Vs Australia and Cameroon Vs Denmark. Resorts World Genting’s live screenings are enhanced by the live commentary and analysis from Liverpool and Wales legend Ian Rush and TV celebrity Chui Ling.

To join the Time Out KL buses that will leave Wisma Genting on Jalan Sultan Ismail in the heart of the city at 5.30pm and 8pm on Friday and Saturday, just enter the competitions promoted on the side and at the top of this page.

For further queries you may contact us at : events@mongooseasia.com