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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We knew the Vuvuzela would spread around the world. Now YouTube- has got a Vuvuzela button.

The little football shaped button is located at the bottom of the image on the right side, and guess what it does – if you click it it produces the beautiful noise of the beautiful game - that’s right the bzzzz-zz of vuvuzelas.

For those who haven’t been following the 2010 World Cup and don’t yet know what a vuvuzela is – it is a meter long plastic horn that South African soccer fans blow at games. Well not only South Africans’ the whole world is blowing vuvuzelas. You can buy a vuvuzela online at many websites. You can even buy a vuvuzela at Amazon.com

You can get a virtual vuvuzela for your iPhone or just blow a virtual vuvuzela online.

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Learn to blow a vuvuzela with Sir Richard Branson and instructors Vusi and TK.

Buy a Vuvuzela

Come on, time is short. You need to go out and buy a vuvuzela and get some practice before the matches. Its not as easy as it looks to make the right sound.

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Looks like the Vuvuzela belongs to the people of South Africa -  nobody owns the patent. The Vuvuzela remains in public domain. ( at least for the time being)

In an article in BizCommunity.com, Charl van Rooyen explains:

According to the records of the South African Registrar of Trade Marks, 40 trademark applications, by numerous persons and entities, have been filed over the past eight years for the registration of trademarks incorporating vuvuzela. These trademark applications are in relation to a wide variety of goods and services.

Since 2004 applications have been made for “plastic trumpets” and “musical instruments” but all of the vuvuzela trademarks are still pending, which means that now no single party can claim to be the registered proprietor of the vuvuzela trademark in South Africa.

So, I guess this means we can now relax and just enjoy the vuvuzela’s without trying to fight about “ownership”.

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