‘Viva Mexico!’ in spectacular World Cup opener

MEXICO CITY — Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 in a drama-filled opening match of the World Cup at the Estadio Azteca Thursday, kicking off the biggest ever edition of the global football extravaganza.

Julian Quinones scored the opening goal of the tournament after nine minutes and 35-year-old striker Raul Jimenez headed in Mexico’s second goal at the Azteca, which became the first stadium in the world to host games at three World Cups.

Three players were sent off – two from South Africa and one from Mexico – in front of a capacity crowd of 80,000 spectators.

In Guadalajara, South Korea got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start by beating the Czech Republic 2-1 in the opening day’s second game.

Until the 80th-minute mark, it seemed that the Czechs would punish the Koreans’ wastefulness in front of goal, but substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu notched the decisive goal in a Guadalajara stadium that was far from full.

South Korea face Mexico in Guadalajara on June 18 in their next Group A fixture while the Czechs play the South Africans in Atlanta on the same day.

Before kickoff, Colombian superstar Shakira and Nigerian singer Burna Boy performed “Dai Dai,” the official song of the tournament and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli rounded off the opening ceremony.