A GLORIOUS END IN SOUTH AFRICA
A GLORIOUS END IN SOUTH AFRICA
DESPITE the fears expressed by many before the opening game of the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, the near perfect organisation has proved doubters wrong. News from Johannesburg that despite pockets of hitches and troubles experienced in the four-week tournament, this edition has been one of the best in the 80-year-old history of the World Cup.
AND so the party is over. The month-long 2010 World Cup came to a beautiful end yesterday at the African calabash shaped edifice aptly tagged Soccer City in Johannesburg. But for some, the party has just begun.
As South Africans said farewell to hundreds of thousands of football fans who crisscrossed boundaries to join the month-long sporting extravaganza, some of the fans could not help but look back at a spectacular show that answered every question on Africa's ability to host the biggest football show on earth.
Yesterday at the majestic Soccer City Stadium, set in the backdrop of historical township of Soweto from where South Africans started their struggle against apartheid, Danny Jordaan, the chief executive officer of this showpiece event, beamed from ear to ear as he received accolades for a tournament that answered all the questions posed by those who thought that giving the hosting right to South Africa showed that Sepp Blatter and his cohorts were wrong in taking the Mundial to the Dark Continent.'
While the winners began a long party that they will continue in their country when they go back with the trophy, Jordaan said the 48 million South Africans who sank their differences and put their best foot forward to organise the event in the face of global scepticism, were yet to realize that the party has come to an end.
Jordaan told the world press on Friday during one of his regular briefings that the World Cup has kept the whole of South Africa in a state of trance, adding that the country would never be the same again even after the last visitor had left.
As the chief cook of a very delicious feast, Jordaan is particularly pleased with the conduct of his compatriots and the unity displayed by Africans in ensuring that the World Cup change peoples' perception of the continent.
Jordaan said the leaders of the country had always seen the World Cup as an instrument of "nation-building, social cohesion, adding that Africans ran the computers, provided the security, built the new stadiums, and a woman even operated a crane."
The power of the World Cup to unite a people often seen as being backward was encapsulated by the devout support every African bestowed on Ghana. It was also evident in the rush with which soccer fans embraced the novel notion of Africa United,' a continent wide fan bank that followed all the teams from the continent to the stadiums where African teams played.
Jordaan sees the World Cup capable of leaving so many jobs behind when the visitors must have left for their countries.
Unemployment is said to be 25 per cent in South Africa. There is no evidence that such competitions as the World Cup leave any legacy of jobs and stability, but Jordaan's premise is that people know South Africa better, as a place of business, pleasure and culture.
Apart from the dream of better jobs after the Mundial, Jordaan believes the World Cup has opened sceptics eyes to the innate ability of the African to rise up to the occasion when challenged.
Jordaan said in a recent radio interview that. "We are moving to that stage of the tournament when teams begin to go home. But the first team to go home was team Plan B. They're not even here."
Before the tournament some foreign media predicted that visitors to South Africa would be faced with dangerous crimes, malfunctioning facilities and dangerous wild animals. But he is laughing at such uninformed view of his country
South Africa has one of the best road networks in the world. Unlike in some other parts of Africa, South African power supply (electricity) can compete favourably with the best developed nations of the world, just as it has in its malls and shops all that any visitor from any part of the world would need for his comfort. "I knew the critics had given up when stories started appearing that we had dangerous snakes in South Africa and that that could be a threat to the competition. People were saying they were so dangerous that one snake could kill off two teams. If that was all they had left to aim at us, I felt they were throwing in the towel."
But South Africa 2010 was not in any way full of only roses and violet. It had its occasional stories of muggings and accidents; the same way Germany 2006 had some disturbing stories of racial attacks on visitors by skinheads. After all, the World Cup brings people of all shades of character together in one country.
The end of the World Cup, according to some South Africans poses a big problem for the people. Describing it as post-World Cup withdrawal syndrome,' Thami Xuza, a journalist with South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), said the days after the Mundial would be a tasking time for most South Africans.
According to Xuza, most South Africans have become used to waking up early every morning to go to one centre or the other as part of the support staff of the 2010 Organising Committee. It has become a routine that would be difficult for many people to shed. But then some other people will see the post-World Cup days as a period to take their deserved rest after more than four years of toiling to make the event a success."
Michael Melusi, a Zimbabwean cab driver, who has been taking some Nigerian journalists to different venues since the days before the June 11 kick off, said, "I will not know what to do with my life from tomorrow, especially with my evenings."
But he is a happy man. "I am proud to be a part of the generation that saw the World Cup in Africa. We were lucky because in the next 50 years I can tell you South Africa will not host a World Cup. So, I can proudly tell my children that I saw the World Cup in Johannesburg.
"I have been living here for 15 years and I can tell you that I never seen this side of South Africa in my life. I think the World Cup was the best way to honour the country's fight against apartheid. Fans of all communities sat together and cheered for Bafana Bafana and all the African teams.'
When Spain and Holland qualified for the final, the whole of Johannesburg became a maze of colours depicting the support base of the two final gladiators. But The Dutch had an upper hand in that battle of colours, apparently due to the historical connections between South Africa and The Netherlands. From the dingy lanes of Soweto to the glitzy lanes of Sandton, the city of Johannesburg was painted in orange the national colour of The Dutch, whose ancestors ruled South Africa.
Nearly 1,000 Dutch fans, known as 'De Oranje' camp, from The Netherlands have settled in the nearby national capital of Pretoria. 'De Oranje' camp was said to be the world's largest football fan camp and consisted of a convoy of 175 vehicles travelling across the entire African continent.
Even in Sandton, a posh area for the whites, The Dutch flags are still flying high on roofs. "We have written the history of this country and it is an irony that now we have come here again to write our country's football history. I guess the local support for The Dutch team will be phenomenal and that will help us," said Dennis de Villiers, a local wine distiller of Dutch origin, before the final game.
Security issues apart, the World Cup has turned out to be a 'pot of gold' for South Africa, that helped the government showcase a different image of Mandela's dream 'Rainbow Nation', where all races would live in harmony, to the world.
President Jacob Zuma said the World Cup had brought 'priceless' benefits to South Africa, as the 33 billion rand ($4.2 billion) spent had led to lasting improvements in infrastructure, communications and transport.
But the social impact had been even greater, he said, as black and white fans packed into stadiums and fan parks together, 16 years after the first all-race elections ended white-minority rule.
"The social benefits are priceless. We have seen remarkable unity, patriotism and solidarity being displayed by South Africans, which has never been witnessed before,' Zuma said earlier this week. "This augurs well for the consolidation of reconciliation and friendship for this young nation. We intend to build on this achievement," he added. Things to do in Sydney Australia Luxury Beach Resorts Maximizing Your Beach Holiday Fun Setting Up Your Own Halloween Party How Protected Are You When You Travel? Why You Should Stay At An Isle Of Wight Holiday Park Chanel Makeup Series for Christmas Holiday Travel Insurance: A Friend Indeed For One In A Tour Make Money While Traveling The Up-To-Date Publication Of Pandora Jewelry This Summer Book Your Puerto Penasco Beach Rentals Sightseeing In Amsterdam: A Brief Account On The Various Tourist Attractions Vypeen Islands, a Paradise ! The Boys are Back in HD on Entourage