Hosts South Africa get into celebratory mode as the World Cup party begins today
At the magnificent Soccer City stadium, built in the vein of au00a0 traditional African cooking pot, nearly 95,000 fans will mark a historic World Cup kick-off as the hosts face Mexico in the opener.
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Bafana Bafana, as the home team is known, will be out to cement their growing reputation thanks to a 12-game unbeaten run that has fired the hopes of a frenzied nation. Football fever has swept Johannesburg. Every which way you turn, there are hordes of fans flying the flags of the 32 nations and goading each other with trademark passion.u00a0
The Bafana Bafana's green and gold palette is visible prominently as is the flag of the Rainbow Nation as locals blow the ubiquitous vuvuzela, dance the diski and sing songs in the indigenous tongues. South Africa's footballers were paraded in an open bus on Wednesday through the streets of the city as more than 100,000 fans brought traffic to a standstill.
Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who guided Brazil to their 2002 World Cup triumph, admitted it was an unusual step. "We could not run away from it, as much as it was difficult for me to understand," he told SuperSport TV.
Proud locals
Meanwhile, the locals are bursting with pride. "We are celebrating a unique moment in history. It makes us very proud that we have come so far in less than 20 years as a free country," says Yasheera Rampersadh, a senior editor with the news agency Sapa. "The World Cup is our showcase to the world. It will throw new light on our amazingly diverse city and reveal a modern country," says Yasheera. "We are fed up with all the negative reporting of South Africa by some foreign media, especially the British press."
"We have had our problems but they are behind us," says Andile, au00a0 young man from Johannesburg.
"South Africa has proved that it can complete world-class infrastructure projects in good time." Andile points to the Gautrain, Africa's first high-speed rail link, which was inaugurated only earlier this week. Despite scare campaigns that kept some European fans away, organisers are confident most games would be sellouts.u00a0
FIFA chief Sepp Blatter confirmed yesterday that the 2010 World Cup would generate more income than the tournament four years ago in Germany.
"South Africans are late believers but once they believe, they are fanatical believers," Danny Jordaan, the local chief executive of the World Cup, told reporters.
Jordaan is confident that the country's legendary patriarch Nelson Mandela will make an appearance at today's Soccer City opener featuring then hosts and Mexico. "As things stand now, there is a great chance that he'll be there because he wants to be there," Jordaan said.
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