| Time for SA soccer to get serious - 19/07/2010 |
A year ago Tshisahulu, in Venda, staged its own mini World Cup. It was a weekend soccer competition featuring a dozen or so schools from this poor rural outpost in the far north of the country. The Star notes that the occasion was the inauguration of two new soccer fields where before there had only been empty, stony ground. Everything - from the impeccably marked regulation pitch to goalposts to balls to kit - was supplied courtesy of a fabulous South African NGO called Dreamfields Project, which has built 10 more such fields and provided top-class gear to thousands of children in some of the remoter, less privileged parts of the country.
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Full report in The Star
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| Continuity vital for Bafana - 15/07/2010 |
No sooner had Spain departed Soccer City with that gold World Cup trophy than South Africans, having been enthralled for a month, were looking forward to Brazil 2014. The Star reports that the question is, however, whether those planning to be part of that experience in South America will be able to watch Bafana Bafana there. Qualifying for the next tournament is South Africa’s next major goal and, after being denied a second-round place only by goal difference at the finals they hosted, there has to be reason to believe that it is achievable.
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Full report in The Star
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| Development key for SA soccer - 15/07/2010 |
The short-term goals of Bafana Bafana appear reasonably clear, with Pitso Mosimane set to be named as national team coach, tasked with guiding the side to the 2012 and 2013 African Nations Cups as well as the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. It is hard, however - unless Paul the Octopus comes out of retirement and says otherwise - to see Bafana really hitting the heights at any of these tournaments, notes a report in The Star. SAFA will have to, if they are to create a successful national team, devise a strategy also based on producing a competitive side for the World Cups in 2018 and 2022, and the Nations Cups in between.
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Full report in The Star
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| An end to a month of mayhem - 13/07/2010end |
And so, unlike this Joburg winter that shows no sign of ending its bone-chilling ways, World Cup 2010 is over, a month going past in the blink of an eye. The Star notes that there may be some who woke on Monday morning, got out of bed, looked around with eyes half shut, and simply got back under the covers, escaping the chill and the bereavement of the end of a month of footballing mayhem. Then again, even for those who believe there is simply no more to life than the beautiful game, there should be enough lingering memories to stir the blood and rouse the soul.
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Full report in The Star
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| Cheeky World Cup advertisers - 12/07/2010 |
While FIFA maintained an iron grip over the World Cup, some unauthorised companies have still managed to cash in on the soccer vibe. The strict control of the event turned out to be an opportunity for marketers to showcase their abilities. Advertising was exorbitant, and rules governed everything from where hawkers could ply their trade to branded clothing worn by fans to matches.
Cape Town-based agency Epic Communications has monitored the various marketing campaigns and spotted a few inspired efforts where companies managed to perform brilliantly on a shoestring budget.
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Full report on the IoL site
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| WC myths busted - 08/07/2010 |
There’s life after ’soccer’, said the Discovery Channel as it previewed an episode of Mythbusters. Indeed, there is life after football, but not for some of those who have had the myths about them exposed as just that. France were the first to have the myth about them shattered. The Star reports that they are no longer a great footballing power, they have not been for some years, but have lived off the glory of 1998 and the stumbling run that took them into the final in 2006.
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Full report in The Star
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| The future of WC stadia under the spotlight – 07/07/2010 |
South Africa has spent billions of dollars on its World Cup stadiums, but what will happen when the soccer stars leave next week? Will the stadiums bruise South Africa’s economy or will they find new life as rugby stadiums? By some estimates, South Africa has spent $6 billion on projects such as building stadiums and repairing roads in preparation for the World Cup, notes a Digital Journal report.
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Full Digital Journal report
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| Best and the worst of WC refs – 05/07/2010 |
The Best: Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal) – 05/07/2010
Sport24 reports that Portuguese referee Benquerenca controlled the quarterfinal between Ghana and Uruguay, and correctly spotted that last minute of extra-time ’save’ from Luis Suarez, producing a red card and awarding Ghana a penalty. That Asamoah Gyan failed to convert, and that Uruguay ultimately won on penalties, is hardly his fault. He generally handled the game and the occasion, in front of a packed Soccer City, very well indeed.
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Full Sport24 report
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| WC a platform for designers - 30/06/2010platform |
Forget cross kicks, penalty shoot-outs and red cards. It’s the coaches in their snazzy tailored suits, the recession inspired toned down approach of the players’ Wags (Wives and Girlfriends) and Bafana Bafana’s bright yellow soccer shirts that has the World Cup fashionistas talking. Sport24 reports that since kick-off on June 11, the WC has become a platform for designers to show off their latest creations and according to local designer, Gavin Rajah, South Africa through its use of yellow and bright colours is basking in its international reputation as ’a sunshine country’.
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Full Sport24 reportSport24
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| WC celebs tweet SA’s praises - 30/06/2010 |
Hosting the first World Cup in the age of Twitter, South Africa has discovered unexpected benefits in its campaign to market the country in record-setting posts by celebrities and fans alike. Sport24 reports that South Africa spent $100m on its marketing campaign, taking out television advertisements around the globe. But glowing comments on Twitter and Facebook by legendary sportsmen, Hollywood stars and ordinary fans are having just as big an impact, said Miller Matola, chief of Brand South Africa, a government agency tasked with marketing the country abroad. ’Social media has revolutionised the word of mouth marketing. We are thrilled by the kind of feedback some celebrities have (been) giving to the world about the country,’ Matola said.
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Full Sport24 report
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| Jabulani ball ’too perfect to fly straight’ - 30/06/2010 |
When it comes to the 2010 World Cup Jabulani football, perfect may not be good enough, according to scientists who have analysed the controversial ball, notes a Mail & Guardian report. Experts puzzling over its allegedly erratic flight, which has unnerved more than one goalkeeper in South Africa, have concluded that the Jabulani may simply be too round to fly straight. Since being chosen for the World Cup, the Adidas-made ball has come in for a serious drubbing.
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Full report on the Mail and Guardian site
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| FIFA own up to WC ball bungle - 26/06/2010 |
FIFA has finally acknowledged that there may be something wrong with the Jabulani World Cup ball, but won’t act on the problem until after the tournament, notes a Sport24 report. Many players have likened the Jabulani to a ’supermarket ball,’ saying it is too unpredictable and flies through the air too easily. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said FIFA will discuss the matter with coaches and teams after the World Cup, then meet with manufacturer Adidas. Goalkeepers have complained about the ball at every recent World Cup, although this time forwards and even coaches have added their laments.
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Full Sport 24 report
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| Durban surfing the WC wave – 25/06/2010 |
It may be winter in South Africa, with Arctic temperatures swirling around Johannesburg for evening World Cup games, but the Indian Ocean city of Durban is thriving in its sub-tropical climate, notes a report on the IoL site. ’The warmest place to be,’ boast the posters promoting the 2010 World Cup of Durban, host to seven matches including a semi-final. Well, they weren’t lying, and bar a couple of monsoon-like downpours, it is winter in name only. Surfers ride the waves, football and cricket games dot the wide sandy beach, and others merely content themselves with a gentle stroll in temperatures that can surpass 25 degrees C in the day.
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Full report on the IoL site
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| Bafana fans in a pickle - 23/06/2010 |
With Bafana Bafana out of the 2010 World Cup, South African football fans have begun to ask themselves who they should cheer for - or even if they care at all anymore. According to a report on the IoL site, South Africa became the first host team to be eliminated in the first round of the world’s biggest football tournament despite beating France on Tuesday in Bloemfontein, leaving fans without a team to support for the last few weeks of the competition. ’I am so very disappointed in Bafana, they have put South Africa in a bad situation,’ said Clifton Zwane, a 45-year-old fan from Soweto. ’But my teams are Brazil and Spain from here on.’
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Full report on the IoL site
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| Fans up the fashion game – 22/06/2010the |
Replica football shirts, face paint, woolly scarves – that’s just so last season. When it comes to World Cup fashion, the 2010 tournament in South Africa has taken the game to another level. Sport24 reports that the country which gave the world the buzzing vuvuzela – easily 2010’s biggest and noisiest newsmaker – has seen its standard colourful match gear of oversized glasses, revamped helmets and afro wigs sweep across stadiums. But some fans have also turned to extra touches to back the national Bafana Bafana team despite its battle to stay in the tournament.
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Full Sport24 report
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| Facing justice, Fifa style – 22/06/2010 |
The Johannesburg magistrate’s court is the sort of unloved municipal building whose corridors smell of damp and bureaucracy, and whose chilly courtrooms recall Bismarck’s observation that those who love sausages and believe in justice should never see either being made. Enter this structure at present, however, and you are greeted by large signs proclaiming the ’Fifa World Cup Courts’, directing you to the courtrooms which have been specially established to deal swiftly with anyone besmirching the good name of this football tournament, notes a Mail & Guardian report.
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Full Mail & Guardian report
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| Nike commits professional foul on Adidas – 21/06/2010 |
The official World Cup sponsor Adidas is losing out to Nike’s back-door marketing, which is proving a bigger hit with fans. Business Day reports that Nike’s global ambush marketing of the 2010 World Cup appears to be paying off, latest research indicating it is beating its rival, Adidas, in connecting with soccer fans and consumers. Great news for Nike, which has not paid a cent in sponsorship to FIFA, and bad news for adidas, which has stumped up an estimated $402 million for the rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup tournaments.
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Full Business Day report Business
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| A WC that resonates around the world - 20/06/2010 |
Having fought for the isolation and the rebuilding of soccer in SA gives Danny Jordaan a unique view: Sitting at the Hector Pieterson Memorial during this momentous week, it occurred to me just how significant it was that as South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup, we also celebrated June 16, and the commitment and sacrifices made by our youth 34 years ago.
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Full column in The Times
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| Vuvuzela innovator cashes in - 19/06/2010 |
If only defender Neil Van Schalkwyk had not scored an equalizer for the Santos Cape Town youth team against Battswood 15 years ago, the whole blaring brouhaha over the vuvuzela might never have come to dominate the World Cup. Amid the crowd’s celebrations that day, he suddenly saw a long homemade tin trumpet being blown - and an idea was born. ’That is the moment that stuck,’ said Van Schalkwyk, who calls himself the innovator of the local trumpet that is loved by South Africans but has drawn a deluge of complaints from TV viewers around the world.
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Full Sport24 report
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| Tweeting for 2010 - 16/06/2010 |
Kaka and Diego Maradona’s son-in- law tweeted their love. Sepp Blatter tweeted his enthusiasm for South Africa. Cristiano Ronaldo said he didn’t have time for tweeting because he was too busy training.
The popular social networking and microblogging service Twitter has wrapped its tentacles around the World Cup with a vengeance. The Cape Times reports that users include the German Football Association (DFB), which has been giving fans an inside look at the German national football team through Twitter.
Some national team coaches have put their feet down hard on social networking. England’s manager, Fabio Capello, has banned his players from using Twitter or Facebook, as has Spain’s, Vicente del Bosque.
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Full Cape Times report
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| Jabulani the bane of the WC - 14/06/2010 |
Forget the noise of the vuvuzela distracting the players, its more the Jabulani football that is proving the bane of the 2010 World Cup participants so far. Sport24 reports that chief among the Adidas FIFA-approved football’s detractors unsurprisingly are goalkeepers - though England’s Robert Green cannot put it down to his howler in the 1-1 draw with the United States. ’Rotten’ opined Spain’s Iker Casillas, ’unpredictable’ commented Italy’s World Cup winning ’keeper Gianluigi Buffon, who went on to say that it was ’a disgrace that such a rotten ball was being used in such a great tournament’.
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Full report on the Sport24 sitereport
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| How to prevent ’vuvu’ – 14/06/2010 |
The players from the 32 participating countries won’t be the only ones nursing World Cup-related injuries over the next month, notes a report on the IoL site. Just ask a few World Cup crazy South Africans who have been overzealously blowing their vuvuzelas, only to notice later that their lips have swollen to twice the normal size. On social networking site Facebook, scores of users this week complained that blowing their vuvuzelas had left them looking as though they had been stung by a bee, although many said this would not dampen their gees. ’Who needs collagen ... get yourself a vuvuzela,’ one Facebooker said.
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Full report on the IoL siteFull
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| No vuvuzela ban on the cards - 14/06/2010 |
Amid criticism from international footballers, broadcasters and tourists about the constant blare of the vuvuzela during games, the LOC has rushed to deny rumours of a ban and to defend the instrument, notes a report on the IoL site. This followed comments by LOC chief executive Danny Jordaan to a BBC radio station when he was asked whether the vuvuzela might be banned. He answered: ’If there are grounds to do so, yes.’ Jordaan added: ’We’ve tried to get some order. We did ask for no vuvuzelas during national anthems, no vuvuzelas when anyone is making an announcement or talking. I know it’s difficult, but we try and manage as best we can.’
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Full report on the IoL site
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| Local entrepreneurs shine – 11/06/2010 |
The unique resourcefulness of South Africans is what is likely to be remembered most about this World Cup. According to Business Report, in a country beset with high unemployment and where the majority of people are still living in poverty, it is hard for South Africans to pass up a good opportunity to make money, and in the process change other people’s lives for the better. Among those who have seized on the frenzy around the World Cup to give those less fortunate a livelihood and also make a fast buck is Paul Wygers. Wygers, who grew up in Durban, is one of the people behind the makarapa phenomenon, a craze that is set to intrigue those visiting South Africa for the soccer spectacle.
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Full story in Business Report
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| Goal for science of soccer - 09/06/2010Goal |
As the 2010 World Cup countdown nears its anticipated conclusion, the focus will shift to teams’ performances on the field. One area that has come under scrutiny is a player’s ability to score goals. But what is the science behind that famous Roberto Carlos goal taken from a free kick during the World Cup in France? The Brazilian kicked the ball far to the right of the wall, but it miraculously appeared to change direction and found the back of the net. ’The physics of soccer balls is complex and varies with each type of ball. We’ve already heard negative reports about Jabulani, despite being one of the most perfect footballs ever produced!’ Dr Tony Kirkbride of the CSIR told News24.
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Full report on the News24 sitereport
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| Flying the flag proudly – 08/06/2010 |
Never before has the South African flag flown so proudly and patriotically. And never before has it been displayed in such a creative manner, arresting the attention of the public. The Star reports that it’s been stylised into fashionable outfits, flown high from the rooftops of homes and buildings, seen fluttering from the windows of cars and on mirror socks, and adopted in all forms of memorable trinkets. The call for national pride has even been answered on Fridays, when all races, young and old, don their gold and green soccer shirts.
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Full report in The Star
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| Using football to kick out Aids in SA - 06/06/2010 |
Jim White, The Telegraph: Witbank, like the whole of South Africa, is mad for football. Here, though, it is not glittering trophies at stake, but the safeguarding of young people from HIV and Aids, and a growing number of women players are helping to pass on a serious message As 350,000 international football fans descend on South Africa for the World Cup, it is unlikely that many of them will find themselves in Witbank, around 100 miles east of Johannesburg. There isn’t much in the way of wildlife or wine estates or stunning views across rolling veldt here in the heart of the country’s coal fields.
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Full Telegraph columnTelegraph
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| SA wines score on value - 06/06/2010 |
Even in lean times, people don’t necessarily stop drinking wine, but they do want to be certain they’re getting a good value. That’s good news for South Africa, which is getting a boost in visibility from World Cup 2010 just as the country is polishing its reputation for an impressive range of wines that are long on quality and affordability. South African winemakers are producing notable Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay. These South African selections are finally starting to break through onto Bay Area wine lists at such diverse spots as Eos Wine Bar and Gary Danko.
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Full SFGate column
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| Not all doom and gloom - 03/06/2010 |
With less than a week before the World Cup kicks off, South Africa’s hospitality industry is trying to remain upbeat, even though 150 000 foreign visitors appear to have decided to stay at home, notes a Mail & Guardian report. Original estimates suggested that about 450 000 visitors would arrive during the tournament. Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced last month that this had been revised to 300 000. The Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are hardest hit.
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Full Mail and Guardian reportGuardian
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| WC fever grips SA youth – 02/06/2010 |
Freedom Nykiza is a nine-year-old from Amaoti and a soccer fanatic. He watches local Premier League games on television and gets excited about seeing his heroes. But the exhilaration that he feels when he talks about the 2010 World Cup is incomparable. The young Kaizer Chiefs supporter is just one of many learners at the Esselen Heights Primary School in Phoenix, north of Durban, who participated in a mini soccer tournament as part of a series of activities planned around the 2010 World Cup.
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Full All Africa report
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