World Cup 2010

The 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Africa for the first time ever. Hosting such a global event will create lots of jobs for South Africans and will be a chance for the country, and continent, to be in the spotlight for the rest of the world and boost its economy.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, which is held ever 4 years and is the premier international football tournament.

It kicks off at 3.30pm with the host nation, South Africa playing against Mexico on Friday 11th June in Soccer City, Johannesburg. The final will be played on 11th July 2010.

The 2010 World Cup finals began in August 2007 and involved 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. It’s only the summer olympics that has as many nations competing in a single competition.

This will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by an African nation, after South Africa defeated Morocco and Egypt in an all-African bidding process. This decision leaves the Oceania Football Confederation as the only confederation yet to host the FIFA World Cup finals.

Italy are the defending champions, after winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Money on offer . . .

The total prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as $420 million. Before the tournament, each participating team received $1 million, for preparation costs. Once at the tournament, teams exiting at the group stage will receive $8 million. Thereafter, the prize money would be distributed as follows:

$9 million – Round of 16 (qualifying from Group stage)
$18 million – Quarter-finals
$20 million – Semi-finals
$24 million – Runners up
$30 million – Winners

In a first for the World Cup, there would also be payments made by FIFA to the domestic clubs of the players representing their national teams at the tournament. This would see a total of €26 million being paid to domestic clubs, amounting to just over €1,000 per player per day. This is to prevent clubs charging FIFA over any injures to their players while their on national duty.

You gotta have balls . . .

The match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, manufactured by Adidas, will be named the Jabulani, which means “bringing joy to everyone” in isiZulu. The number eleven plays a prominent role in the new technologically advanced ball: it is the eleventh World Cup match ball made by the German sports equipment maker; it features eleven colours, one for each player on the pitch; and there are eleven official languages in South Africa. The event will also start on the eleventh day of June and end on the eleventh day of July. A special match ball with gold panels will be used at the final held in Johannesburg.

Be Careful . . .

South Africans and others have expressed concern that the World Cup will stimulate the illicit sex trade. Football fans are being warned that South Africa has one of the worst HIV infection rates in the world and the British government has given £1 million to buy 42 million condoms. However, AIDS campaigners have accused FIFA of blocking the distribution of condoms at football grounds.

The mainstream media constantly remind us of the high crime rate in South Africa and the risk people take by being in South Africa. What alot of the media outlets are failing to report is the thousands of visitors the country has every year without any issues. Any country you go to will have a run down poverty areas. In Birmingham your not going to see a tourist walking down Lozells road wid a camera are you. You won’t see people standing up outside Dutch Pot in Winson Green for their photo to be took. It’s the same in any country, stay to the mainstream areas and you ‘should’ be kriss!

WTF, every morning I wake up and see kids walkin down the road beating drums and chanting – surely this is not a true reflection of South Africa? I turn over to another news station and see ber poverty striken slums, surely this isn’t all what South Africa is about? Maybe it’s just another opportunity for the media to give a negative reflection of a non-caucasian society. I wonder if all the news reports will be coming from Hackney, East London, in the run up to the 2012 Olympics and the news camera will be filming lager louts walking up and down the road with their pints in their hands? I doubt it. LOL!

Who to watch out for . . .

On da real – This is building up to be one of the most hotly contested World Cups for many years. All the big guns are firing (not just in Cape Town! LOL!). Look out for the African nationals that will be out to prove they are the best in the world on their home turf. The likes of Didier Drogba – Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Samuel Eto’o – Cameroon, Michael Essien – Ghana, Obafemi Martins – Nigeria, Steven Pienaar – South Africa and watch out for Peter Odemwingie – Nigeria. These are just a few to watch.

Other big players include: Wayne Rooney – England, Fernando Torres – Spain, Lionel Messi – Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal, Kaka – Brazil, Franck Ribery – France, Wesley Sneijder – Holland, Carlos Tevez – Argentina, Andrea Pirlo – Italy, Maicon – Brazil, David Villa – Spain, Diego Forlan – Uruguay, Xavi – Spain, Iniesta – Spain, Nicolas Anelka – France, Steve Gerrard – Engalnd, Frank Lampard – England, Landon Donovan – USA . . . The list is endless.

The big names to look out for are: Spain (European Champions), Italy (current world Champions), Brazil (the most successful country ever), Germany, France, Portugal, Holland.

Sneaky outsiders include: England, USA, Ivory Coast, Ghana and maybe with their home crowd . . . South Africa!

Send your comments or predictions to info@supatrax.com