FIFA just finished a tour of the newly built stadiums across the country. The world cup will be spread over 10 football/soccer temples in 9 cities, but 6 of them are brand new and near completion. All are smoothly on track it seems. Smiles all over!!
Officially Soccer City in Soweto was “only” upgraded, but to be honest the whole old stadium was put down and a totally new one was built from scratch. So for me that fits the brand new category.
And so far already 650527 tickets have been sold. World cup fever guaranteed.
I am slightly surprised that by now only 11 national teams of the 32 that will be present here have already the qualification in the bag. By end of November all 32 must be known because on December 4th in Cape Town the groups for the first round of the world cup will be drawn. So I guess in the coming weeks we will see a lot of do or die matches across the globe to grab qualification – or to lose out. Tensions are rising for sure. Travel agents anxiously awaiting final whistles. Footballers’ wives hating the doubts if it will be a (winter) holiday in South Africa or a beach show off in Bermuda. It’s tough living a stress full existence! Sandton shopping mall checking out which ladies will come and spend the husband’s earned millions. The men sweating on the training grounds as the ladies run around shiny corridors with overloaded shopping bags. Now I understand why VISA / Mastercard is an official sponsor of the world cup.
Here’s a little, sporty update amidst the fever. I was curious and did a quick search.
So, if I’m right, for now the only teams with already guaranteed presence in SA are Bafana Bafana as host, star-attraction Brazil, Paraguay, Spain, North (!!) as well as South Korea, Ghana, the Netherlands, England Australia and Japan.
It’s unlikely the world’s most expensive player will be here. Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal is facing a nearly impossible task in their qualifying group. In Africa Nigeria is nervous as they might miss the world cup too because Tunisia is leading in their group. Same stress for African giants Egypt. They are currently second, trailing 3 points behind Algeria. And for Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast it all just seems a formality. Am sure they booked their air tickets already.
Back in Europe, little Switzerland is making a strong chance of visiting SA. Germany and Russia are pretty much guaranteed presence too. A world cup without Germany seems near impossible. France is sweating it out. They are currently second in their group behind Serbia, but have Austria breathing down their neck. Italy, despite disappointing matches during this year’s Confederations Cup, looks likely to be back in the country.
Others likely to grace us with their presence are the USA, Argentina (hopefully still with coach Diego Maradona), Mexico, and maybe also the All Whites from New Zealand.
If rugby fans are a bit drunk they might think this upcoming world cup is a rugby competition as England, SA, Australia, and maybe New Zealand and France too will be battling it out on a grass pitch.
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