Until South Africa won the bid to host the 2010 World Cup, the following non African nations hosted the World Cup. Uruguay (1930), Italy (1934), France (1938), Brazil (1950), Switzerland (1954), Sweden (1958), Chile (1962), England (1966), Mexico (1970), West Germany (1974), Argentina (1978), Spain (1982), Mexico (1986), Italy (1990), United States (1994), France (1998), Korea Republic / Japan (2002), and Germany (2006). The 1942 and 1946 World Cup tournaments were cancelled.
Joseph Blatter, the current FIFA president by all standards has been a big supporter of Africa’s dream of hosting the World Cup on an African soil. Joseph Blatter openly declared his support for the 2006 South African bid to host the World Cup but that bid did not materialize. The 2006 bid was eventually won by the Germans after a controversial vote. It is believed by many football fans that the 2006 bid was one of the most controversial bids in the history of FIFA.
There was a huge competition between South Africa and Germany for the 2006 World Cup bid. Germany won with a 12-11 votes. South Africa was the favorite to win the 2006 bid, but on the day of voting twelve out of the twenty-four voting members of FIFA voted for Germany and eleven voted for South Africa. It is believed by many that South Africa lost the 2006 bid because one voting member from New Zealand who was instructed by the Oceania Football Confederation to vote for South Africa decided to abstain from voting for either South Africa or Germany, paving the way for Germany to eventually win the bid by one vote.
Knowing the level of Support from the FIFA president for Africa, South Africa would have won the 2006 bid if the representative from the Oceania Football Confederation had voted for South Africa. The tally for the votes would have been a 12-12 tie, which would have paved the way for the FIFA president to cast the deciding vote, which eventually would have been for South Africa.
Due to the controversy that surrounded the 2006 World Cup bid, FIFA decided to rotate the hosting of future World Cup tournaments by rotating it among the various continental football confederations. The rotation system gave Africa a chance to host the World Cup for the first time on an African soil.
The rotation policy was welcomed by Africans with a lot of joy; the first Confederation to benefit from the rotation policy was the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The decision to begin the rotation policy in Africa led to a heavy competition among three African nations. Egypt, Morocco and South Africa competed to host the 2010 World Cup.
South Africa eventually won the 2010 bid by securing 14 votes, followed by Morocco with 10 votes; Egypt did not receive any vote for its 2010 bid. The day all Africans have been waiting for came when FIFA president Joseph Blatter declared South Africa as the winner of the 2010 bid at a news conference at Switzerland after the votes for the 2010 bid were counted and certified.
The Confederation of South American Football was the second and the last to benefit from the rotation policy. Brazil won the 2014 bid to host the World Cup. Soon after Brazil won the 2014 bid, FIFA was quick to announce in 2007 that they will no longer continue with the continental rotation policy.
Even though Africans were not happy about the decision to reverse the rotation policy, Africans were grateful that South Africa and for that matter Africa won the 2010 bid to host the World Cup for the first time on an African Soil.
Since the day FIFA declared South Africa as the host of the 19th and the 2010 World Cup tournament, the critics who never wanted an African country to host the World Cup began their criticisms. Some Africans were tempted to believe that most of the people who criticized South Africa were anti Africa. Some critics even predicted that South Africa 2010 was going to be a disaster. But FIFA officials led by their president, Joseph Blatter, stood by South Africa and maintained that South Africa was capable of staging the World’s largest tournament.
The road to South Africa 2010 began in 2007 with 204 countries competing in Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, South America, North, Central America and Caribbean for qualification to South Africa. Out of the 204 countries, only 31 countries qualified to represent their countries and continent by joining the host, the Bafana Bafana of South Africa for the 2010 World Cup on an Africa soil.
Despite heavy criticisms, FIFA President Joseph Blatter, dismissed all doubts and assured football fans around the world that South Africa was ready to host the biggest World tournament on an African soil. He also added that South Africa 2010 will be a successful tournament.
Some critics have been quoted for saying “the biggest wrong decision made by FIFA was to award the 2010 World Cup to South Africa” Joseph Blatter, was quick to respond by saying such criticisms was “a disrespectful prejudice”.
The opening ceremony was held on 10 June 2010. Several football fans around the world attended the opening ceremony in South Africa. Many more football fans around the world watched the musical concert on television in all parts of the world. Some of the world best musicians and superstars performed during the opening ceremony.
The following groups and superstars performed during the opening ceremony, Black Eyed Peas, John Legend, Angelique Kidjo, the Soweto Gospel Choir, Alicia Keys, Shakira and many more performers. The singing of the official World Cup song “Zaminamina Waka Waka, Zaminamina Zangalewa” by Shakira and her fellow performers was one that Africa and world football fans will remember for many years to come.
Ten major Stadia were used for the tournament. They include the Green Point Stadium located at Cape Town with a capacity of 68,000, Nelson Mandela Stadium at Port Elizabeth (Capacity 50,000), Free State Stadium located at Bloemfontein (Capacity 40,000), Moses Mabhida Stadium located at Durban (Capacity 70,000), Royal Bafokeng Stadium located at Rustenburg (Capacity 40,000), Loftus Versfeld Stadium located at Pretoria (Capacity 45,000), Mbombela Stadium located at Nelspruit (Capacity 40,000), Peter Mokaba Stadium located at Plolowane (Capacity 40,000), Ellis Park and the Soccer City stadium located at Johannesburg with a capacity of 60,000 and 95,000 respectively.
All ten Stadia were strategically located close to the airports, train stations and other sources of transportation. There were a few logistical problems, but it was generally easy for fans to travel from one stadium to the other by air, road or train. Most of the games were well attended. Soon after South Africa president and the FIFA president declared the 2010 tournament officially opened on 11 June 2010, the Bafana Bafana of South Africa began the tournament by playing against Mexico in an exciting opening game that ended in a 1-1 score line.
Critics who were against an African country hosting the World Cup were disappointed that their numerous attempts to stop South Africa had failed. Their next attempt was to diminish the success of the tournament by calling for a ban on the use of the Vuvuzela. Critics were of the view that the Vuvuzela was too noisy and for that matter affected the concentration levels of players and fans. The Vuvuzela criticism was rather strange because the Vuvuzela was used by both Africans and non Africans during the games. Some players even admitted purchasing Vuvuzela for their kids back home.
Interestingly, the countries that were doing well at the tournament did not complain about the Vuvuzela. Most of the complaints against the use of the Vuvuzela came from countries that were performing poorly at the tournament. My response to those who called for the banning of the Vuvuzela is as follows, “If you go to Rome, you do what the Romans do”.
The world Cup is in Africa, so the critics should understand that the use of the Vuvuzela in Africa throughout the tournament was a unique way for Africans to support their teams, I am glad several non African football fans quickly got the message and learnt how to use the Vuvuzela to support their teams at the tournament. Whether the anti Vuvuzela critics like it or not, the Vuvuzela is here to stay. Don’t be surprised to see it being use in Europe and other continents during football games.
I am glad FIFA disregarded the Vuvuzela criticisms by allowing it throughout the tournament. Once again, Joseph Blatter stood solidly by Africa by releasing the following response on his twitter page. “I have always said that Africa has a different rhythm, a different sound. I don’t see banning the music traditions of fans in their own country, would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions in your country?” This response, in my opinion confirmed the level of support the FIFA President had for Africa.
On a positive note, the controversy over the use of the Vuvuzela attracted a wider audience to the tournament in South Africa. The entire world media talked about the Vuvuzela, hence attracting more viewers to the tournament. The Vuvuzela controversy was very good for the promotion of the game of football. CNN reported on 5 July 2010 that an American TV ratings research company confirmed that 99.2 million Americans tuned in to watch a World Cup game. This figure is for only viewers from the group stage to the quarter final stages of the tournament. This figure is bound to increase by the end of the tournament. I believe strongly that the Vuvuzela controversy played a vital role in attracting more viewers’ especially American viewers. This is my word of advice to the anti Africa critics. If you can’t stop Africa from hosting a successful World Cup on an African soil, join them by purchasing Vuvuzela as a souvenir.
Notwithstanding the positive outcome of the tournament, there were a few setbacks. Notable among some of the setbacks occurred during a group stage fixture between the USA and Slovenia, one of the African referees Mr. Koman Coulibaly of Mali blew a rare opportunity when he was appointed as the referee for the USA versus Slovenia group stage game.
Mr. Coulibaly had the opportunity to prove to the world that apart from producing talented players, Africa can also produce superb referees, but unfortunately he disappointed Africa by officiating poorly. Mr. Coulibaly allowed players to get away with several bookable offences. He eventually made the situation worse by disallowing a very good goal scored by Maurice Edu of USA during the 86th minute of the game. The poor performance by the Malian referee dented some of the success achieved by South Africa during the tournament. Had he not officiated poorly in that game, he would have been a perfect candidate for the final World Cup game on an African soil, but he blew it.
Interestingly, there was drama when the French Football Federation decided to end striker Nicolas Anelka’s World Cup on 19th June 2010 by sending him home four days before their last group stage fixture against the host nation, South Africa. Reports indicated that Anelka was sent home from the tournament for openly criticizing Coach Raymond Domenech’s tactics after their 2-0 loss against Mexico on 17th June 2010.
The drama with the French National team continued on 20th June 2010 when the national team led by Patrice Evra refused to train for their third group stage game against South Africa. The French team reported to the training grounds but refused to train. There was a heated argument between the players and the French fitness trainer. It is believed by many people that the refusal to train was a protest against the expulsion of Anelka from the team. French president Nicolas Sarkozy made the situation worse by pledging to personally be part of a team that will investigate the disastrous performance and disciplinary issues during France’s participation in the 2010 World Cup.
The debate as to whether to use goal line technology to assist referees during FIFA tournaments was re-visited after a good England goal against Germany was disallowed. FIFA president Joseph Blatter apologized to England and Mexico for some of the referee errors and said “It will be nonsense not to re-open the goal line technology debate” FIFA is said to have a board meeting in July to find a solution to the goal line technology controversy.
The World Cup controversy continued when the Nigerian president announced that the Nigerian national team will withdraw from International competition for two years due to their poor performance during the World Cup. President Goodluck of Nigeria stated that the Nigerian Football Federation will also be dissolved and replaced with a new board to prepare the Nigerian team for International competition within two years.
The action by the Nigerian Government nearly led to FIFA sanctions because, FIFA determined that the Nigerian Government interfered with the Governing of Football in Nigeria. FIFA did not sanction Nigeria because the president of Nigeria met the 5 July 2010 withdrawal deadline set by FIFA. The Nigerian president withdrew his initial two year ban on Nigeria’s participation in International competition in order to avoid the expulsion of Nigeria from FIFA competitions. FIFA also made it clear that they will not hesitate to expel France from FIFA competitions if determined that the French Government interfered in the Governing of football in France.
FIFA referees did not hesitate to issue the red card for any bad tackles. The first to receive a red card was Nicolas Lodeiro of Uruguay during their first group stage match against France. A total of 48 group stage games were played, 101 goals were scored and 13 red cards shown by referees at the group stage. Sixteen teams qualified to advance to the round of 16 stage with Ghana being the only African country to remain in the tournament. Out of the 101 group stage goals, all six African representatives at the 2010 World Cup scored a total of 14 goals. The highest score line in the entire tournament occurred during a group stage fixture, where Portugal thrashed North Korea by a 7-0 score line. South Africa was not able to make it to the round of 16 but exited the tournament by securing a superb 2-1 victory against France.
History was made when the Boateng brothers of Ghana and Germany became the first siblings to play a World Cup game against each other. Prince Boateng featured for Ghana and Jerome Boateng played for Germany in a crucial group D fixture. Even though Ghana lost the game by a 0-1 score line, both Ghana and Germany qualified to advance to the round of 16 and the quarter final stages of the tournament. Prince Boateng’s World Cup came to an end at the quarter final stage, but his younger brother Jerome and his German team managed to take it a step further to the semi final stage before being beaten by Spain. Jerome eventually won the bronze medal with his German team. Group D turned out to be the toughest group.
For the first time in World Cup history, the holders and the runners up Italy and France respectively were both eliminated at the group stage. Despite the early exit of most of the African countries from the tournament at the group stage, South Africans and other Africans continued to attend most of the games in their colourful national colours to offer their support to Ghana and other national teams. The surprise of the tournament occurred when New Zealand managed to secure their first world cup point, by securing one point each from all three group stage games against Italy, Paraguay and Slovakia at the group stage. Italy disappointed world football fans by finishing bottom of group F with only 2 points. A shocking moment of the tournament came when Switzerland beat Spain the world number two ranked team and favorite team to win the World Cup.
The three top teams that were not shy of making attempts at goal by shooting during the group stage include Brazil, Argentina and surprisingly Ghana. The Ghana Black Stars were third on the list but scored only two goals in the group stage through penalties. The youthful Ghanaian team was young and inexperienced but was not shy to shoot at goal when they got the chance. Asamoah Gyan, of Ghana and Messi of Argentina were joint leaders of most shots taken with 23 shots each at the group and the round of 16 stages. The Black Stars of Ghana moved to the top of the list of teams with most shots at the quarter final stage. The total number of shots by the Black Stars at the quarter final stage of the tournament was 101 shots for the entire team and a total of 33 shots by Asamoah Gyan. Spain eventually became the leaders in terms of most shots with a total of 103 shots for the entire Spanish team at the semi final stage. A difference of only 2 shots more than the Black Stars of Ghana who went out of the tournament at the quarter final stage.
Despite Ghana’s exit at the quarter final stage, Asamoah Gyan was the leading player with most shots taken throughout the entire tournament with a total of 33 shots. David Villa of Spain was second with 32 shots. Sulley Muntari of Ghana also scored one of the best goals of the entire tournament against Uruguay during the quarter final stage. Asamoah Gyan of Ghana was nominated by the Technical Study Group of FIFA as a contender for the 2010 World Cup best player award. Gyan was the only African player nominated among the ten man list with popular footballers such as David Villa of Spain,Diego Forlan of Uruguay, and Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands. Andre Ayew, the son of Abedi Pele of Ghana was also shortlisted for the best young player award, alongside Thomas Mueller of Germany and Giovani Dos Santos of Mexico. Overall, Ghana left the tournament with their pride intact.
The youth policy of Ghana was positively praised by many football analysts. Some of the praises came from top football personalities such as Ruud Gullit, Alexi Lalas, Coach Bob Bradley, Coach Martinez of Wigan, Steve McManaman and many more. The Ghanaian coach was highly praised, for his ability monitor the younger players and gradually integrate them into the senior team. Ghana basically had a very good and reliable replacement for every single player in the starting eleven. The Ghanaian officials also did a very good job by maintaining discipline in their camp.
One of the worse performance at the round of 16 occurred when England with their so called “Golden Generation” was thrashed 4-1 by a youthful German team. The most goals allowed by England since 1954. England wasted valuable time training on how to take penalty kicks, with the expectation that their game against Germany will end in a penalty shootout but was destroyed by Germany within the 90 minutes of the game.
Former English footballer, Steven McManaman, eventually admitted on ESPN that England is not a good football nation anymore. I would like to add by reminding the British people that a good English Premier League does not mean a good English National Team. Rooney, Gerard, Terry, and Lampard do well in the league because of the high quality foreign players like Essien, Drogba, Vidic, Nani, and many more in the Premier League.The two group D teams Ghana and Germany continued to display excellent football skills by progressing to the quarter finals.
Just as South Africa thought they had silenced their critics, former English Footballer Steven McManaman, who played for clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid and the national team of England, and now a retired footballer and ESPN football analyst, re-ignited the criticism by criticizing the pitch at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
I will like to remind McManaman that their so called best Stadium (Wembley Stadium) has been condemned and referred to as one of the worse pitches in England. Several English Premier League clubs have blamed the Wembley pitch time and time again during vital Cup and League finals at England. He should return to England and see to it that the Wembley pitch if fixed before criticizing any pitch at South Africa. So far as the South African pitches are concerned, I believe strongly that South Africa have better pitches than England.
A total of 22 goals were scored at the round of 16. The only game that ended in penalty shootout in the round of 16 was between Paraguay and Japan. Paraguay eliminated the only Asian team left in the tournament with a 5-3 score line through penalty shootout. The only red of the round of 16 went to Ricardo Costa of Portugal. A total of 204 yellow cards were issued between the group and round of 16 stages.
The youthful Black Stars of Ghana continued to make Africa proud by advancing from the round of 16 to the quarter final stage when they beat the USA on 26 June 2010. Ghana scored two superb goals against the USA to advance to the quarter finals stage of the tournament. The Black Stars of Ghana were a delight to watch. The South African ruling party, African National Congress (ANC) recognized the achievement of the Ghanaian team a day before their crucial quarter final game against Uruguay. A leading member of the ANC stated in an interview that the Black Stars of Ghana was now “The Black Stars of Africa”.
Out of the eight (8) teams that advanced to the quarter finals, four (4) teams were from South America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay), Three (3) teams from Europe (Netherlands, Spain and German), and Ghana, the only team from Africa.
The quarter final took off with an exciting game between Brazil and the Netherlands in a thrilling 2-1 win by the Dutch. 20 yellow cards and 2 red cards were shown in the quarter final stage. The Dutch, Germans and Spanish teams were quick to reduce the South American domination of the tournament by sending Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay home at the quarter final stage. Ghana came close to sending the last South American team, Uruguay, home but failed to do so because of the “ magic hand save by Suarez” of Uruguay. Ghana was robbed by Suarez on an African soil by using his two hands to stop the goal bound header from Dominic Adiyiah of Ghana. A total of 10 goals were scored at the quarter final stage. The worse performance at the quarter final stage was a 4-0 thrashing of Argentina by the Germans.
The Ghanaian team did very well; luck was simply not on their side. The Black Stars of Ghana have a bright future. The Germans beat England and Argentina by four goals but only managed to beat Ghana by a lone goal. The time is now for them to go back to the drawing board to begin their preparation for the 2014 World Cup. They have a very good coach that must be retained. All they need to do is to add a few more players from the youth teams and play numerous friendly games in preparation for the next African Cup of Nations and the World Cup.
The Netherlands, Germany and Spain, all three European teams joined the South American cheats, Uruguay at the semi final stage. The Netherlands maintained their 100% World Cup winning record by beating Uruguay by a 3-2 score line at the semi final to progress to the final. Spain managed to beat Germany by a lone goal to advance to their first ever World Cup final.4 yellow cards were issued at the semi final stage. The total number of goals scored at the semi final stage was 6.Uruguay was not able to cheat their way to the final. After being defeated by the Netherlands, Germany made it worse for Uruguay by defeating them during the third place game with a 3-2 score line to clinch the bronze medal. As expected, the fans booed Suarez throughout the third place game because of his hand ball against Ghana.4 yellow cards and 5 goals were scored during the third place game.
Despite the day light robbery of Ghana by Uruguay, on an African soil at the quarter final stage, Africans continued to support other teams and attended the rest of the games from the quarter final stage to the final by singing and dancing in support of their preferred teams. At the end of the tournament the following statistics were reported, total number goal: 145, only 2 goals less than the total goals scored at the Germany 2006 World Cup. Total yellow card for the entire tournament was: 246, and red cards: 17.
Colombian Pop Star Shakira ended the tournament in South Africa by singing the official World Cup song “Zaminamina Waka Waka, Zaminamina Zangalewa” to pave the way for the ultimate final between the Netherlands and Spain. The final 2010 World Cup championship game kicked off after the arrival and early departure of the great Nelson Mandela. The entire stadium went loud and crazy when Mandela arrived. The almost 92 year old Mandela stayed for the concert and returned home to watch the game on TV after waving at the fans at the stadium and the world. What a superb way to end the World Cup tournament in Africa. The total number of fans who attended the World Cup championship final for the past few tournaments are as follows, France 1998 (Attendance:80,000), Korea/Japan 2002 (Attendance:69,029), Germany 2006 (Attendance:68,000) South Africa 2010 (Attendance: 84,490) Statistically, South Africa managed to beat France, Japan /Korea, and Germany in terms of attendance during the ultimate championship final game. A total of 84,490 fans attended the 2010 final game between the two European giants, Spain and the Netherlands at the Soccer City Stadium of Johannesburg. The 84,490 does not include the reserved seats for the media and special invited guests. A British referee was put in-charge of the final game. The so called “Best British referee” Howard Webb lost control of the final game by officiating poorly. He failed to show De Jong of the Netherlands a red card in the first half when De Jong stamped Alonzo right in the chest. He eventually continued to make the situation worse by showing 14 yellow cards and 1 red card during the final. The British people are always quick to blame referees from other Countries for poor officiating, but had their so called best British referee officiate so poorly. What a disgrace for British football. Spain eventually emerged as the Winners of the tournament with a 1-0 score line. The Best Player of the tournament or the Golden Ball award went to Diego Forlan of Uruguay, Golden Shoe or goal king was Thomas Mueller of Germany with 5 goals and 3 assists, and Best Goalkeeper was Iker Casillas of Spain. Thomas Mueller of Germany also managed to beat Andre Ayew of Ghana to receive the young player of the tournament award. The FIFA fair play team of the tournament award went to Spain.
In terms of total attendance from group stage to the semi final stages, FIFA declared on 7 July 2010 that South Africa made history by becoming the third all time host nation with the most attendance. Over 3 million football fans attended the games from group to the semi final stages. The first host nation to exceed the 3 million spectator record, in terms of attendance was the USA in 1994, followed by Germany in 2006. South Africa proudly became the third host nation to exceed 3 million spectators in the history of FIFA tournaments from 1930 to 2010. South Africa exceeded the 3 million spectator limit at the semi final stage of the tournament and still had the third place game and the final championship game to spare. Ladies and gentlemen, I am not talking about viewers on television; the 3 million spectators actually purchased tickets and watched the games live at the 10 stadia used for the tournament from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The number of spectators rocketed higher by the time the third place game and the final games were played. What a great achievement by South Africa.
Notwithstanding a few reports of protests by some South African workers over unpaid wages, the Vuvuzela criticisms, and the early group stage exit of most of the African teams including the host nation South Africa, the host nation did a superb job by hosting a successful tournament. Apart from providing security to the millions of lovely football fans in and outside the stadia, South Africa did a superb job by providing top level security to many high level personalities through out the tournament. Some of the high profile personalities include former president Clinton of the USA, Angela Merkel of Germany, the royal families of Spain and the Dutch, and many more.
The chances of an African nation hosting the World Cup again in the near future are slim because of FIFA’s decision to stop the rotation policy. I hope other African nations will get the opportunity to make Africa proud again by hosting the World Cup for a second time on an African soil. Some of the possible future African contenders, to host the World Cup in Africa include Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt, Ghana or South Africa again.
So far as I am concerned, the current FIFA president is the best person to ever lead FIFA. He has been fair and firm in his decision making. The confederation of African Football should not forget all the good things Joseph Blatter, did for African Football. When the time comes for re-election of a FIFA president, CAF should not hesitate to vote to keep Joseph Blatter, as the FIFA President. Thanks to Joseph Blatter, for having that much confidence in South Africa. He stood by Africa during good and bad times. He has been a good friend of Africa, and I have no doubt that he will continue to be a friend of Africa.
I would like to end by congratulating the South Africa 2010 World Cup Organizing Committee Chairman, Mr. Danny Jordaan, and the entire membership of the organizing committee for working so hard to prove the critics wrong. Roger Milla of Cameroon, Abedi Pele of Ghana and George Weah of Liberia deserve praise for being part of the South African bid to host the World Cup. Overall, the tournament was successful. The South Africa 2010 World Cup will be remembered for several decades to come. Several world leaders have praised South Africa for hosting the World Cup Successfully. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany praised South Africa by saying “South Africa should be proud for hosting the tournament successfully”. FIFA president Joseph Blatter is also quoted for saying “I am very satisfied with the 2010 World Cup”, Colombian pop star Shakira was also quoted for saying “I have fallen in love with football and my South African hosts”, president Lula da Silva, of Brazil also praised South Africa during the unveiling of the Brazil 2014 World Cup logo by saying “The success of our African brothers represents a tremendous challenge to the Brazilian people”. These quotes and many more confirm that South Africa 2010 was not a disaster as many critics predicted before the tournament began. It has been a huge success. Bravo to the people of South Africa and the entire African continent.
I challenge all the critics who negatively criticized South Africa before the tournament, to return to the TV media to apologize and withdraw their negative criticisms. If they don’t “man up” to apologize, be assured that they will have no option than to eat their words. There is no doubt that the South Africa 2010 World Cup will go down in history as one of the most talked about and successful FIFA tournaments. South Africa did a very good job hosting the tournament. The superb display of rich African culture by the entire continent made the tournament more successful and one of the FIFA tournaments that will be most remembered. All Africans must be proud of the good job done by South Africa.
I am tempted to believe the content of a sign carried by a Ghanaian fan during the tournament. He redefined the acronym FIFA as (Football Is For Africa). See you at Brazil in 2014.
I hope World Football fans can find good answers to the following questions.
1. Will this be the first and last World Cup on an African Soil?
2. Which African Country will be ready to host a second World Cup in Africa?
BY: Nick Amuna Email: nicamuna@yahoo.com
