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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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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20 Days to Kickoff at Soccer City today. Its Football Friday, my favourite day of the week when I wear my Bafana Bafana Jersey.

Waka Waka Official 2010 World Cup Song

I’m even starting to hum the Official 2010 World Cup song, you know that Waka Waka Song, that we’re all so pissed off about. Well I’m still unhappy that FIFA didn’t pick an African singer to do the World Cup Song, but then I thought, wtf who ever remembers these songs? Can you remember any of the previous ones?  And  I read in a story in You magazine how excited Freshlyground were to be doing it, so I’ve changed my attitude – now I Waka Waka along  as I go about my bizniz.

Diski Dance in Durbs

The Diski dance I won’t get, ever – I’ve accepted that -  I’m an old mlungu with two left feet – my brain might groove on the Beautiful game, but my feet, eish – they would rather be propped up on something in front of the TV with a cold one in my hand – so I’m not going to diski dance, sorry Brand South Africa! (I’ve actually always been suspicious of these manufactured things that marketing types think up and try to cajole us into).

South African National Flag

I love my flags. I have mirror socks on my car and two flags hooked onto my windows that are so big my petrol consumption has doubled because of the drag, but I’m grooving with my South African flags. I also have my favorite ones I carry to Bafana Bafana games, but unfortunately something went wrong with the match allocation process and we’ve got a bit screwed here in eThekwini.

We didn’t get enough games or enough teams. I think someone at FIFA is jealous of our great weather and our beautiful Moses Mabhida Stadium.

But today is Football Friday and we are “catching gees” (* gees is an afrikaans word for spirit  ) as we used to say at school. So I look over at my growing vuvuzela collection with pride.

Buy a Vuvuzela

OK, I confess, I am a vuvuzela junkie. I can’t stop buying them. If you haven’t yet, you must buy at least one vuvuzela – wow they are all over the place now, and really cheap – under R20 in Pick ‘n Pay. I saw beautiful vuvuzelas at Mr Price Sports and the ones the guys sell along the road with the flag are so cool.

If you just want one for a souvenir, buy a vuvuzela at Woolworths – I see they have beaded one.

Buy your Staff Bafana Bafana Shirts

Just a little Football Friday note – why not buy your staff some shirts – there are a whole range of them from R90 shirts at Mr Price with Bafana Bafana on to the really expensive replica Bafana Bafana jerseys.

We got this in our inbox, looks like a good offer:

I have been getting huge enquiries the last couple weeks about the Bafana Supporters Shirts after they were sold out, Good news is that we have another 2500 shirts in stock which will probably last about 2 weeks. If you want to get your office geared up for the world cup order soon. Sizes range from men’s Medium – XXL and now also Ladies sizes 10 and 14 . Please email lindsay@talloula.co.za to place your order, the shirts cost R80 + vat (R91.20) Below is a look at the shirts. Also there are some who have ordered and not collected yet! We now have a minimum order of 10 shirts. You can also contact Lindsay on 0824149160 should you have any enquiries.

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Vuvuzela. Come on say the word – Vu-vu-ze-la! It is such an easy words to roll off the tongue – sort of like the sound it makes – it has a erupting vibration.

It is brightly coloured, about a meter long and is a standard part of a South African football fan’s kit – yebo, yes it is a Vuvuzela. I guess in the USA they’d call it a stadium horn – it is a long plastic trumpet that South African soccer fans blow enthusiastically and rhythmically during football matches.

History of the Vuvuzela

I don’t know about the history – some talk about kelp horns and fishing horns, others talk about kudu horns, like the rather unsightly kuduzela and others refer to the tin trumpets that some religious groups blow.

But South African soccer fans don’t really care where the vuvuzela came from; they just enjoy the fun and noise with the vuvuzelas.

Where to Buy a Vuvuzela

In South Africa, you can buy a Vuvuzela on the way to the match from one of the friendly vendors next to the road or you can go to a shop like Macro. You can also buy vuvuzelas from some sports shops, football clubs, supermarkets, online - just about anywhere.

Vuvuzela Colours

Made of plastic, they come in a variety of colours – the standard primary red, blue and yellow, green. But the most popular are those in club colours: black or white for fans of Orlando Pirates, yellow for Kaizer Chiefs, and so on.

Vuvuzela’s and 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup

The announcement on 15 May 2004 that South Africa would host the FIFA World Cup in 2010 gave the vuvuzela a major boost, with some 20 000 sold on the day

According to joburg.or.za FIFA has come to the party too. “The world football governing body said on 11 July 2008 that fans could bring their vuvuzelas to stadiums for 2010 World Cup matches., in spite of those balling for the vuvuzela to be banned.

At a debate that lasted several hours, the South Africa 2010 Local Organising Committee (OC) convinced FIFA that the vuvuzela was essential for “an authentic South African footballing experience.”

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