CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A match between former champions produced an opening day World Cup dud, with France and Uruguay drawing 0-0.
Even if some of the tournament’s top stars — France’s Franck Ribery and Uruguay’s Diego Forlan — showed flashes, the fear of losing the opening game stifled both offenses.
The low point came when Uruguay’s Nicolas Lodeiro was ejected after a wild challenge on Bacary Sagna in the 81st minute for his second yellow card.
In the end, an early short-range miss by France’s Sidney Govou and an excellent save from Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera left Group A as wide open as possible.
