Vuvuzela South Africa

Bafana Bafana players and new coach Pitso Mosimane  are confident that they are going to beat the Black Stars of Ghana on Wednesday night in the international friendly at Soccer City.

Coach Pitso Mosimane is Confident

According to football365 Mosimane insists he is in a confident mood ahead of the showdown, despite stating that the Black Stars would provide a true reflection of how well Bafana have progressed.

“I am looking for continuity. We all know how good Ghana are. They were the best African side at the World Cup, but I believe we can beat them,” he said.

Teko Modise Wants to Pull off a Win

Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana midfielder Teko Modise has told the Siya crew that the team wants to pull off a win for in honour of the host nation, who contributed to the success of the tournament.

“We ended on a high note and we have to start on a high note as well. We have to do it for the nation that has always supported us. We also have to make sure we are continuing with our winning ways. We need to keep on doing well as we prepare for the qualifiers. It is good to always play well and win,”

Black Stars of Ghana have a Strong Team

Ghana have brought 12 of their World Cup stars, including goalkeeper Richard Kingson, captain and defensive hardman John Mensah, the classy young striker Andre Ayew, plus the impressive Kevin Prince Boateng who proved a handful for some of the best defenders in the World Cup, and will give Mokoena and company plenty to think about

Image: Teko Modise socceladuma

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Ask the Octopus

Get your Paul the Octopus iPhone App (unofficial) and you will have predictions in the palm of your hand – so to speak.

It was just a matter of time before someone jumped on the very popular bandwagon of Paul the Psychic Octopus who made a string of winning predictions in the recent 2010 World Cup. Besides the vuvuzela, I think Paul the Octopus became one the the icons of this tournament.

According to Mashable, the German Octopus is back in the form of an iOS app that makes predictions about anything you want it to, not just football.

The uTouchLabs-developed app is called “Ask the Octopus” [iTunes link] and it’s available in the App Store for the iPhone , iPod touch and iPad (though it doesn’t have a special iPad version).

Ask the Octopus

Before you rush off to install this Paul the Octopus iPhone app, called Ask the Octopus, I just want to warn you that is is just a game, you are not going to get Lotto numbers or pick a winner on the sixth race. But it is fun to play with and, hey it’s quite a talking point.

A good recipe for World Cup withdrawal: install the Ask the Octopus iPhone App and the Vuvuzela iPhone App and you’ll get that 2010 World Cup feeling all over again.

After all Vuvuzela was the WORD for the 2010 World Cup.

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Vuvuzela is the word of the 2010 World Cup, would you want to know it? Not Jabulani, although I think the name of the energetic ball of happiness is probably a close second or third.

No, I’m not suffering from post World Cup euphoria. I read this on the Web so it must be true.

Vuvuzela – Biggest Impact on 2010 World Cup

Linguists in more than 60 countries voted that the vuvuzela is the word “that has made the biggest impact on the 2010 World Cup, and that it will be best remembered for”.

“Long after individual matches and goals are forgotten, this will be remembered as the Vuvuzela World Cup,” said Jurga Zilinskiene, managing director of London-based firm Today Translations a London-based translation company with a network of 2, 600 linguists in over 60 countries, on Media 24.com.

“Vuvuzela” was chosen by 75% of more than 320 linguists from over 60 countries, who were asked to choose the word with the biggest impact on the tournament.

Vuvuzela Landslide Victory

Vuvuzela won a landslide victory in a survey of linguists conducted by Today Translations,

In second place was Waka, after the official World Cup song by Shakira and the South African group, Freshlyground.

In joint third place were Jabulani, the official match ball of the tournament, Zakumi, the official World Cup mascot, and Bafana, the nickname of the South African national soccer team.  (By the way whatever happened to Zakumi?

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The Golden Ball nominees have been announced for the 2010 World Cup. The adidas Golden Ball is the official FIFA trophy for the “Best Player of the Tournament”.

Everybody has their favorite player, but there have been a few players who have certainly stood out during this tournament, no matter what team you have been supporting.

The ten nominated players for the Golden Ball were selected by the FIFA Technical Study Group that includes football experts such as Kalusha Bwalya, Christian Karembeu, Jomo Sono and Gérard Houllier.

Nominees for the Golden Ball

Nominees for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ adidas Golden Ball trophy are:

• Diego Forlan (URU)
• Asamoah Gyan (GHA)
• Andres Iniesta (ESP)
• Lionel Messi (ARG)
• Mesut Oezil (GER)
• Arjen Robben (NED)
• Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER)
• Wesley Sneijder (NED)
• David Villa (ESP)
• Xavi (ESP)

Accredited media representatives will vote to determine the winners of the adidas Golden, Silver and Bronze ball awards on FIFA.com. The winners will be announced after the final on 11 July.

adidas Golden Ball past winners

1982 FIFA World Cup™ Spain: Paolo Rossi (Italy)
1986 FIFA World Cup™ Mexico: Diego Maradona (Argentina)
1990 FIFA World Cup™ Italy: Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)
1994 FIFA World Cup™ USA: Romario (Brazil)
1998 FIFA World Cup™ France: Ronaldo (Brazil
2002 FIFA World Cup™ Korea / Japan: Oliver Kahn (Germany)
2006 FIFA World Cup™ Germany: Zinedine Zidane (France)

Read more about the Golden Ball  nominees  on FIFA’s Website

Image: golden Ball trophy fifa .com

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FIFA has announced the shortlist for the Best Young Player of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They sure had a great crop of youngster to pick from this year as many of the top teams fielded young sides.

Best Young Player Announced After the Final

According to FIFA, The award continues the tradition of officially recognising the positive impact made by young footballers and is open to all participating players born on or after 1 January 1989. The final winner will be selected by the FIFA TSG and announced on FIFA.com after the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Final. The winner will receive the coveted Hyundai Best Young Player Award trophy and a new Hyundai Tucson ix 35.

Thomas Muller, Giovanni Dos Santos and Andre Ayew

Nominees for the Hyundai Best Young Player Award at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa:

Thomas Mueller (GER): Thomas Mueller’s rapid rise through the senior football ranks has been nothing short of remarkable. A fringe player with his club, Bayern Munich, just two seasons ago, and with a first international cap coming only in March of this year (presciently, a friendly against Argentina), the 20-year-old striker has captured the imagination of fans everywhere with his pulsating approach play and vital goals (4) and assists (3).

Giovani Dos Santos (MEX): Still only 21, Giovani Dos Santos is one of the most famous faces in the Mexico squad. “Gio”, who played much of the most recent club season on loan to Turkish side Galatasaray, burst on to the scene aged 16 when he showed prodigious technique and vision in helping Mexico to victory in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru in 2005. The super-nimble young forward has become a key cog in the attractive Tricolor team and looks sure to be around for years to come.

Andre Ayew (GHA): The son of Black Stars legend Abedi Pele, ”Dede” Ayew is used to living his young life in the footballing spotlight and he has handled the attention with great poise. He already became a world champion with the U-20s in Ghana last year. As an attacking midfielder, Ayew has become an important part of Ghana’s playing system with a successful pass rate of 85 per cent.

Also see Golden Ball nominees.

Image: Best Young Player Shortlist – Fifa.com

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