Vuvuzela South Africa

Today is the last Football Friday of the 2010 World Cup. It seems like it all want past in a multi-coloured blur of excitement and amazing soccer.

Bafana Bafana makes South Africa Proud

We waited so long from that first announcement that South Africa would host the 2010 World Cup, the first on African soil, to the kickoff, just four weeks ago on 11 June at Soccer City in Jozi when Bafana Bafana held Mexico to a draw and Sipiwe Tshabalala score one of the most beautiful goals of the entire 2010 World Cup –in fact  the first goal of the tournament. (I’d show you the video, but FIFA has copyright and has taken all the copies off YouTube).

Do we even remember that Football Fridays were a campaign of Brand SA to get the country behind Bafana Bafana and to catch some “gees” for the 2010 World Cup. It took off quite slowly, with only die-hard soccer supporters and a patriotic few sporting yellow jerseys. At first, the jerseys were really hard to get and they were very expensive.

Vuvuzelas, Mirror Socks, and Flags

As we got closer to the big even, more jerseys and T-shirts came onto the market and Fridays became decidedly more yellow. Vuvuzelas started appearing all over the place – really cheap and in many colours.

Then the flags came out and the mirror socks and before we new it South Africa was swept up in a Bafana Bafana and World Cup frenzy like nobody had ever expected.

People were writing to me asking me where they could buy a vuvuzela. Flags and mirror socks were available at almost every traffic light and on the roadside and South Africa exploded into colour as the visitors arrived for the tournament.

I have never seen so many flags – car flags – flags hanging out of windows, strung up on masts, painted on faces…. everywhere. And one could hear the paaarp of vuvuzelas all over.

Waka Waka Official World Cup Song

I never really got the diski dance, but it wasn’t long before I got fully into the Waka Waka Official World Cup song and was going Waka Waka to everybody. (I must admit I wasn’t happy at first – nothing against Shakira, but hey we have awesome singers in South Africa)

Last Football Friday

And now that it is the last Football Friday, and we have only two more matches left, let us make a commitment not to stop flying the flag… Can we keep flying the flag,  just for a little bit longer?

OK there won’t be anymore Football Fridays where you can just go up and greet and chat to anyone in a yellow jersey, ’cause you know you have something in common.

But maybe Fridays can just sort of unofficially become a day that we greet one or two strangers and say Yebo or Howzit! – Just for the sake of the beautiful game man!

Check out some cool Football Friday Pics at AwesomeSA

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Get your Vuvuzela for the World Cup Final

Spain and Netherlands – two teams that have never won a World Cup before, will meet to be crowned the winner – also the first team to win a World Cup on African soil.

Both teams have thrilled soccer lovers across the world over the past few days.  Matched  against two-time world champions Uruguay and three-time winners Germany in the last four, the Oranje and La Roja won through in Cape Town and Durban respectively and will now square off at Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium, with the winners becoming only the eighth nation to claim the coveted crown.  (See Transport arrangements – Getting to Soccer City)

Netherlands vs Spain

Over the next few days the pundits are going to be  …well punditing and theories are going to be flying around concerning the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final between Netherlands and Spain that will take place at Soccer City in Johannesburg on 11 July at 20.30 (local time). The showdown at Soccer City will be the Netherlands’ third Final appearance and Spain’s first. So you better buy your red or orange vuvuzelas and get ready for the Final.

Netherlands – Unbeaten Run

We know that Bert van Marwijk’s Oranje boys play a very efficient brand of football that has brought them an unbeaten run of 25 games. And if they win the World Cup final, they will be able to claim the cachet of being only the second team to follow up a 100 per cent record in qualifying by winning each and every game at the final tournament. The only side to do so previously was the legendary Brazil squad of Mexico 1970.

Paul the Psychic Octopus

In many quarters Spain has always been regarded the World Cup favourite. We have not has any reports yet from Paul the Psychic Octopus, but he picked Spain over his “homeboys” Germany for the Semi-finals and after all, are the reigning European champions.

La Roja must have their tails up after eliminating the fiery German side, so the question is: Can Vicente del Bosque’s classy, short-passing side become the first national team to follow up UEFA European Championship success with a global triumph since West Germany in 1974?

Golden Boot -  David Villa vs Wesley Snijder

A very intriguing subplot looking ahead to the Netherlands-Spain Final will the battle between Dutch attacking midfielder Wesley Snijder and Spanish hitman David Villa for the adidas Golden Boot. Both the Inter Milan creator and Barcelona’s newly signed forward are on five goals apiece.

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Paul, the Psychic Octopus who predicted five straight Germans wins, has predicted a Spain win for the 2010 World Cup Semi Final Germany vs Spain in Durban tonight.

Superstitious German Fans

Superstitious German fans are distraught at Paul the Octopus‘ predictions. According to the New York Times “Paul’s handlers claim that he has correctly predicted the outcome of each of Germany’s five World Cup matches this year, so when he decided not to eat a mussel in a box decorated with the German flag after it was lowered into his tank this morning, the nation took note. With news crews from around the world recording his every move, Paul instead lowered a tentacle into a box bearing the flag of Germany’s opponent in Wednesday’s match, Spain.”

I believe that overnight Germany’s favorite dis went from bratwurst to calamari!

Paul the Octopus almost Picked Germany

Perhaps most agonizing for German fans is that Paul momentarily hovered over the his home country’s box before slithering sideways to munch on the mussel representing Spain. Even as he picked the Spaniards to win, Paul still showed his affection for Germany by dangling several tentacles over the German box while he scarfed down the Spanish snack. Scroll down for photos and video of the sage of the sea making his bold pick and enjoying his tasty treat, says Huffington Post

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The Biggest Football on the planet stands an impressive 15 m high. Mr. Robert Molloy, adjudicator and Director of Television Guinness World Records, has confirmed it as the world’s biggest football.

Based on the Telstar ball of the 1970 FIFA World Cup, it is almost 70 times the size and 1,500 times heavier than the Jabulani ball says goal.com

Guinness World Records

To enter the Guinness World Records the ball needed to conform to certain specifications: it must be inflatable and deflatable, be able to roll and be kicked, and must be an exact replica of an official FIFA match ball. In other words, it has to do all the things that a regular soccer ball can do.

“Fortunately Guinness gave some leniency when it came to the materials – we did not have to manufacture the ball out of shoe laces and leather panels but were allowed to use PVC instead,” said Stefan Vermaak of Information SA, the specialist marketing company commissioned to run the Emperors Palace and Kia big ball project, at the event.

“This ball is a real replica that, despite its size, moves and looks like an Adidas Telstar ball,” he said at the event.

The colossal ball that rests on the enormous Chariots Fountain next to the D’oreale Grande Hotel has already become a draw card for Emperors Palace, where the display forms part of the entertainment complex FIFA World Cup viewing zone.

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The second two quarterfinals take place today to determine a place in the semi finals. Argentina v Germany in Cape Town and Spain vs Paraguay in Johannesburg.

Argentina vs Germany

Argentina vs Germany kicks off at 4.pm this afternoon in the beautiful Cape Town Stadium in a match that could be a world cup final. I just know that this quarterfinal will have all the drama and tension that any final could possibly have. Argentina boasts four straight wins in this tournament (no goal from Messi) but he has been very busy setting up the movements and the Germans have almost played demonstration matches of cool, clinical precision.

So when Argentina and Germany face off in Cape Town today in what will be a rematch of their 2006 quarter-final, the South Americans will seek a different outcome

Young German Side

This German side is young, but is amazingly organised and seems equally sharp on the attack as on the defence. We remember last week when Joachim Low’s side turned on the power against England in the last round, swamping them 4-1 in a superb display of attacking football.

Well Behaved Maradona

But the South Americans,  well Maradona, who has remarkably kept his cool and behaved well, has managed to produce a fired up squad that seems to look like they may just be World Champions again … if they can get part the Germans

These two giants of the world game have met five times before in the competition’s history. The Germans hold sway with three victories to Argentina’s solitary win in the Mexico 1986 Final. The other game, a group match at England 1966, ended in a goalless draw.

Players on Yellow Cards

Players on yellow cards going into Saturday’s match: Mario Bolatti, Javier Mascherano and Gabriel Heinze of Argentina; and Mesut Ozil, Cacau, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thomas Muller of Germany.

Paraguay vs Spain

The Highveld night will be very chilly when Paraguay vs Spain kicks off at 8.30 at Ellis Park in Johannesburg tonight. The last of the quarterfinals is maybe the most under-rated of the four matches because it almost seems as if Spain will walk over Paraguay, who has a great team, but no real playmaker.

But one can never write off the South Americans. They are tough and play a wonderful emotional brand of football that involves arguing with the referees at every call, robust tackles, and spectacular dives and well as breathtaking runs with the ball. It says a lot that we had four South American teams in the Quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup.

Spain v Paraguay – Fourth Meeting Between Two Countries

Saturday’s Paraguay v Spain showdown is the fourth meeting between the countries. Two of their previous encounters ended in goalless draws, one a 2002 friendly, and the other a first-round match at France 1998. Spain scored the only win by either side when prevailing 3-1 in another first-round meeting at Korea/Japan 2002.

In the last eight for the fifth time, Spain has never reached the semi-finals, although they did finish fourth at Brazil 1950 when the Trophy was decided by a four-team final group phase. As for La Albirroja, they have already broken new ground and are intent on venturing further.

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