Soccer: Bafana Bafana held by Mexico

They partied like they hadn't partied since the end of apartheid in 1994. They danced in the streets, they danced in the stands and they danced in their homes. The only dampener was that they didn't beat Mexico yesterday.

World Cup hosts South Africa, who have been waiting for this moment for six years since winning the right to stage the tournament could have snatched it, with striker Katlego Mphela hitting the post late in the game as they searched for a winner. They squandered a gaggle of other good chances after a slow start.

Mexico, too, might have felt aggrieved they didn't take all three points. They were dominant in the opening spell and really should have scored at least two goals in the first 45 minutes as they stretched a nervous-looking South African defence.

A draw was probably a fair result in what was an excellent opening to the tournament and it leaves both teams with legitimate chances of progressing out of their group, especially after the other two in Group A, France and Uruguay, fought to a 0-0 draw.

There's a widespread belief in South Africa that it is their destiny to achieve at least that. The country is being swept along in a wave of patriotic fervour that is blinding their judgement - but there was enough to suggest Bafana Bafana might just do it.

There is enormous pressure on the side, evidenced by the fact 100,000 people lined the streets of Johannesburg for an open-top bus tour by the team on Wednesday.

South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Perreira, who guided Brazil to the World Cup in 1994, pronounced himself happy with the result but felt his side struggled with the pressure in the opening 15 minutes of the match.

"The opening game is always a lot of pressure," he said. "Most of our team are a home-based team, players who are not used to this big environment. But after 15 minutes we started playing our game, putting the ball on the ground.

"We knew this Mexico team was the most daring in the World Cup, they are full of quality. In the second half we made the game more balanced and had chances to even have won it. I believe that the ice has been broken. The result was not the one we wanted but it will keep us alive until the last game in the group."

It would be brilliant for the tournament if they did make it through and progressed even further. They are ranked four places below New Zealand in the world rankings at 83, making them the lowest-ranked host nation ever.

But they are now on an unbeaten run of 13 games, coinciding with Perreira's appointment as South Africa coach last October. He has given South Africans reason to blow their own vuvuzelas.

They look vulnerable at the back, as do Mexico, but in midfielders Steven Pienaar and Siphiwe Tshabalala, who scored a superb goal in his 50th match for Bafana, they have players of genuine quality.

There was something anti-climactic about the result and the constant drone of the vuvuzelas abated momentarily as most of the 85,000 fans in Soccer City absorbed the result. The best thing was that South Africa didn't lose.

"We will party the whole night long in Soweto," a fan known only as Joe said afterwards. "I have been waiting for this day from the moment we were told we would host the World Cup.

"It doesn't matter we didn't win. It was a good result. We will party anyway because it's Friday."

It's hard to imagine how the country would react if they truly had something to celebrate because they are already delirious.