Iraq deny hosts in Confederations Cup opener

Two key saves from Mohammed Kassid gave Iraq a 0-0 draw against South Africa in the Confederations Cup opener Sunday, dealing a blow to a host nation hoping to establish itself as a challenger in the tournament.

Combined with Kassid's saves, South Africa was unlucky with six minutes to play when a header from Kagisho Dikgacoi hit the leg of forward Bernard Parker on the goal line and bounced out again. Kassid was already beaten.

"I wanted to drop dead," Parker said.

Iraq coach Bora Milutinovic said he had never seen such a fluke.

"My friend, this is part of the game," said the 64-year-old Serb, who is a veteran of five World Cups. "I am so happy that it happened today."

The draw for Iraq rewarded Milutinovic's conservative tactics and gave his team an unexpected point and hope it could still reach the semifinals from Group A, which also includes Spain and New Zealand.

"If you don't convert the chances, you are not going to win," said playmaker Teko Modise, South Africa's man of the match.

The hosts outshot Iraq 11 to 2, with many of the chances coming late in the game after a hesitant start.

South Africa coach Joel Santana centred on Iraq's tactics rather than his team's inefficiency up front.

"Our opponent never tried to play football," Santana said. "They tried to paralyse the game."

Milutinovic didn't argue.

"For some people it is boring. For some people they are happy," the Serb said.

Five minutes before the end, Bafana Bafana fans were already streaming out of Ellis Park, disappointed that their team showed nowhere near the quality to make it a contender when the World Cup comes to South Africa next year.

Both teams set out Sunday with defence first in mind and it produced a match with few skills. Iraq playmaker Nashat Akram and South Africa's lone standout Modise failed to make a difference against overwhelming defences.

With Spain expected to breeze into the semifinals from Group A as the world's top-ranked team and New Zealand considered the weakest team of the tournament, Sunday's game was expected to provide the clue on who would advance to the semifinals as group runner-up.

"Now we have our back against the wall," said South Africa midfielder Steven Pienaar, who next faces New Zealand on Wednesday in a must-win game in Rustenburg.

In South Africa's biggest match in more than a decade, its chances were dealt a blow before kickoff when it was forced to keep Pienaar on the bench after the Everton player failed to recover sufficiently from an ankle injury and stomach problems. He made a brief substitution with five minutes to go but had no impact.

Milutinovic started with a five-men defence and often kept nine players behind the ball, happy to escape the opener with a goalless draw. Iraq never came close to scoring and rarely seemed to try.

"My goalkeeper had nothing to do in the match," Santana said. "Bafana Bafana had good control of the game."

Overall, both teams played very much up to their mediocre FIFA ranking of 72 for South Africa and 77 for Iraq. South Africa qualified as host and Iraq is the Asian champion.

Some of the best excitement came before the match, when FIFA president Sepp Blatter and South African President Jacob Zuma were wildly cheered by the crowd of 52,522.

On an inconsistent field marked with rough patches, smooth play was difficult enough, but on both sides there was a lack of creative talent to split the crowded defenses.

If Milutinovic's tactics at the head of a slumping team playing a host nation of a major tournament could be understood, it was harder to see why Santana held back until the second half to push men forward.

Modise became ever more dominant in the centre but was left frustrated when all too little of his initiative proved fruitless because Parker and Thembinkosi Fanteni all too often lost balls.

AP