JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – Mexico deprived hosts  South Africa of a dream start to the first World Cup on African  soil, equalising late in a thrilling 1-1 draw at Soccer City to  frustrate tens of thousands of vuvuzela trumpet-blowing fans yesterday.

After such an entertaining start to the 64-match tournament,  France and Uruguay disappointed with a drab goalless draw that  failed to do justice to Cape Town’s magnificent new Green Point  stadium backed by Table Mountain.

The day really belonged to South Africa’s lowly-ranked  Bafana Bafana (The Boys), who did not crumble under the weight  of public expectation and euphoria but produced a performance  worthy of the opening game of Africa’s first World Cup.

Siphiwe Tshabalala’s glorious 55th-minute shot sent most of  the 84,000 crowd into ecstasy at Soccer City near Soweto  township, a centre of the anti-apartheid struggle.

Mexico, who dominated the first half but faded in the  second, struck back late through Rafael Marquez after 79 minutes  when Bafana Bafana’s offside trap went disastrously wrong.

South Africa hit the post just before the whistle.

The credible debut — from a team even many South Africans  had written off until a sudden boost in form in recent months —  eased sadness at Nelson Mandela’s absence from the occasion.   His great-granddaughter, Zenani, died in a car crash on the  way home from a pre-World Cup concert, forcing the beloved  91-year-old father of post-apartheid South Africa to cancel his  attendance and go into mourning.   Zenani, 13, was one of the nine great-grandchildren of  Mandela, whose charisma and prestige is credited with helping  South Africa win the World Cup bid in 2004.

RAINBOW NATION UNITES

Hundreds of thousands of South Africans crammed bars, homes  and special fan parks for Friday’s match in a show of national  joy likely to accelerate unity in a nation still riven by race  and wealth divides 16 years after apartheid ended.

“The rainbow nation has gathered together,” teacher Disebo,  36, said among fans in the city of Bloemfontein.

Ear-splitting vuvuzela trumpets blasted and flags flew  across the nation, with most public gatherings passing off  peacefully. Three people were hurt in a crush at a fan park  viewing of the opening match in Johannesburg.

Organisers, though, were thrilled with the first day.

“It is just fantastic that the first goal of Africa’s first  World Cup went to South Africa, we really couldn’t have written  a better script,” local World Cup chief Danny Jordaan said.

With no team outside Europe and South America ever having  won a World Cup, Spain are the bookies’ favourite, while Brazil  are the fans’ choice according to a new poll.

Against Uruguay, France looked a far cry from the imperious  team that won the World Cup on home turf in 1998.

Tormented for years by pessimism that the world’s most  watched sporting event might be too big for Africa to handle,  South Africans could scarcely contain their pride at being in  the world spotlight for such positive reasons.

“We have been waiting for years for this moment, praying  that it would happen,” said local fan Nicolas Sello, 54. He came  to Soccer City at dawn a full 10 hours before kickoff wearing a  specially-tailored shirt resembling the national flag.

“AFRICA’S TIME”

At a glittering pre-match opening ceremony, jets roared  overhead and hundreds of performers showed off local music and  dance in the stadium shaped like a calabash or local cooking  pot. A giant model dung beetle rolled a ball across the turf.

South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero Desmond Tutu, who has  said the World Cup will have as big an impact for blacks as the  election of U.S. President Barack Obama, danced ecstatically  wearing the scarf of Bafana Bafana (The Boys).

“The time for Africa has arrived,” President Jacob Zuma told  the crowd. He passed on a message from the mourning Mandela:  “The game must start, you must enjoy the game.”

Inside and outside the stadium, there was an electric  atmosphere as Mexican fans dressed as mariachi singers in  wide-brimmed hats joked with their South African rivals.

While Obama was not there, his vice-president Joe Biden did  make the trip to the envy of his boss. “The president is angry,”  said Biden, whose boss is at home handling the BP spill.

One man ruing his absence was the head of Rwanda’s football  federation — he was ordered home and arrested for trying to  attend the World Cup without permission from military superiors.

“That is insubordination,” an army spokesman said of errant  Brigadier General Jean Bosco Kazura.

Ahead of today’s match against England, the United States  had an amusing reminder of their exotic surroundings when an  elephant blocked the team bus — for the second time.