World Cup 2010

I believe Holland are the best team in the World Cup, but ever since I read David Winner's Brilliant Orange a few years ago I've always expected them to self-destruct at major tournament, and they have usually obliged.

In the same way that Spain's European triumph overcame their national belief in tournament failure, so a Dutch win in South Africa will destroy the belief that the perfect win is the only one that counts.

That`s brilliantly funny!

I knew it was an attempt at cheating really but thought it sounded kinder and less xenophobic to describe it as an administrative error! . I tried to roughly calculate the chances of North Korea and South Korea meeting a week ago and by my reckoning the earliest possible chance would be the semi-finals. Highly unlikely I would think. But a more burning question is if they went to war in the next week would they pull out of the tournament? The Irish still have their bags packed and a full dossier of evidence of a French handball ready to slip into any vacancy!! ;D

Yeah and this is just the build up consisting of friendlies, wait till it kicks off properly, I did say it should never be hosted in a country that is vertually third world and in chaos!

I am going to try to keep my language moderate but apologies in advance if I fail to. Why is there so much damn Afro-pessimism on this board? Why do people think that South Africa is already 'in chaos'? I am currently writing this from Johannesburg, waiting on a ticket to tomorrow's Dutch football team's public training session and with tickets to two games in my desk drawer. My main concern with the tournament is selfish - my university campus is being used as a park and ride for games at Soccer City, Ellis Park, and Loftus stadia: this means there will be a shortage of parking for myself and other staff who have to come to work. Beyond that, and please indulge me while I write this, the preparations here have gone very well and the atmosphere is building nicely.

The murder of Eugene Terr'blance at Easter certainly caused a bit of concern for some, but talk of the new 'race war' - I believe one of the British paper's headline was 'English soccer fans face machete race-war blood bath' - was over-hyped and sensationalist. Race remains a crux issue here, but that said a more serious concern now is disparities in wealth (which often remain along racial lines): address the socio-economic inequalities and other tensions would diminish. Perhaps I can give you a more positive side to things - one of the local rugby teams, the Blue Bulls, recently won the Super 14 trophy (equivalent of the Heineken Cup) in a game played at Orlando Stadium in Soweto (they couldn't play at their home ground, Loftus Road, as it is being used for the World Cup) - this meant that thousands of white South Africans - Afrikaans and English speakers - ventured into Soweto: a space symbolically tied to the struggle against apartheid and into which many white South Africans refuse to venture. The day went exceptionally well, reports from friends at the game and in the media reinforced a sense of national-pride and non-racialism, free of the tensions and concerns so many talk about.

To address some other points - South Africa certainly is blighted by crime and violence, primarily due to the vast socio-economic inequalities that are a legacy of apartheid. That said, the worst of these problems are experienced in specific spaces (ie the townships and sub-economic urban areas) into which very few tourists would venture. Just as there are parts of London, Glasgow, Nottingham or any other city that you would not walk around alone, after dark, so too are there parts of South African cities one would not walk around. While a degree of street-savy is required, too much of the media coverage plays upon moral panics and folk devils in reporting on/about South Africa.

There are certainly very upsetting and troubling incidents of random violence in the country, but these are limited in number compared to the poor-on-poor violence which is often overlooked in media reports.

As for the stampede at the friendly fixture between Nigeria and Korea - this was a fixture organised by the national football associations of the two countries who failed to ensure adequate preparations were in place for the fixture. Having attended many local and international games here there are incidents of concern with crowd behaviour - but may I remind you of the scenes at the Milwall v West Ham game last year? The organisation at the Confederations Cup last year indicate that the World Cup fixtures will be more than adequately policed and safe.

The World Cup is going to be a great experience and, yes, it is being held somewhere that is outside of Europe/North America so there will be a few stumbles along the way but accept that and go with the flow. I, for one, will be heading in to Soweto on Friday to watch the opening match from a fan park or shebeen and thoroughly expect a warm and friendly welcome. Ke Nako!

Really good post Jo'burgGull although I must say that Afro-pessimism hadn't come over to me as being prevalent amongst the TFF members in general. The odd comments and doubts yes, but there are of course now seven hundred members so views will vary. I think though that you have actually put over in an intelligent and articulate way the very doubts that some have in their minds as to whether as we all wish South Africa 2010 will be remembered for a festival of football, or for other things.

Hope you enjoy the tournament Jo'burg and hope parking at work isn't too much of a problem. You could always try parking near one of the stadiums and then getting the Park & Ride bus to work!

Sadly I can answer the first point immediately....................because certain people make their ignorant views known to all and sundry based on their limited acquisition of "knowledge" gained from reading the idiot factor amongst our press................The Daily Mail with it's historical anti democracy, Afrophobic, anti anything that goes against the long term comfort of the establishment of this country having things their own way agenda ~ remember this was the paper and the publishing group that promoted sympathy to the Fascist cause in the build up to World War 2. They'll never forgive South Africa for overthrowing Apartheid and the evil regime that promoted it.

Then you have the good old "Sun Reader" who's inability to look beyond a headline and a photograph is legendary, who's attention span lasts all of thirty seconds and would rather look at a pair of tits than any serious news.

People like this choose to overlook the FACT that South Africa has been successfully staging top international sport for years. They choose to ignore the huge infrastructure and employment benefits that the country has derived from the momentous decision to take the World Cup to the African continent for the first time ever.

For people like this, exposure to the African's natural flair for entreneuralism, resourcefulness and sheer hard work derived from generations of living without the safety net of social security would be an education, and as you say most of the criminal and violent behaviour you mention is a direct legacy of years of social inequality and deprivation.

As for Nigeria and football chaos, one only has to look at their pathetic inability to organise their English training camp properly, or even their departure from this country by air which had to be delayed for 24 hours. I once went to a game organised by the Nigerian FA with Jamaica as the opponents at Watford FC when the game actually kicked off over three hours late due to the Nigerian players refusing to take to the field until issues they had with their parent FA had been resolved..........................an absolute joke of an organisation and no surprise that they caused all that chaos outside of FIFA's durisdiction the other day.

Right wing bias and reactionary descrimination will always attempt to discredit the Africans..........................my own partner's mother has only this afternoon phoned from Kinshasa in DR Congo to tell us that her visa application to enter the UK and spend the summer with us, has been refused by the British Consulate there. When she has made countless visits here before, has lived in Lisbon for much of her life and constantly travelled between the EEC and various African states, why suddenly with a right wing government propped up by an appeasing apology of a Liberal/Sell out Party; does she find she is no longer welcome in this country and allowed to spend time with grandchildren she might never see again in her lifetime and four who she has never yet seen in her life?

This is what the stupidly ignorant recently voted for in our General Election and this is the sort of behaviour from this country's government that will appeal to their sense of what is right and what is popular. This is the result of introverted thinking and narrow mindedness, that is where all the negativity towards holding the World Cup in South Africa comes from.
This is Afro Pessimism!

Enjoy your World Cup JoburgGull, this UK national has every confidence it will be fantastically well organised and wonderfully appreciated in your country!