Soccer

AUSTRALIA THE FIRST TEAM TO ARRIVE IN SOUTH AFRICA

World Cup Organising Committee

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa (OC), represented by Chief Executive Officer Dr Danny Jordaan and SAFA President, Kirsten Nematandani, welcomed Australia’s soccer team as the first participating team in the country for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

Australia landed at 18h35 this evening at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.

“We are pleased to welcome Australia as the first team to arrive in our country. We all know that the stadiums are all ready, everything is in place and now the teams are finally here. More importantly though, our people are ready. From now, we have to concentrate on the kickoff match in a few days time,” said Jordaan.

SAFA President, Nematandani, was there to welcome the team as the representative of the host team. “As the host association, we feel excited to welcome all the teams to our country. It’s important that all the teams should feel at home and enjoy the best that our country has to offer.”

Australian coach, Pim Verbeek, said his team was excited to be in South Africa.

“First of all I want to say that we are very excited to be here in South Africa. I have been in this country about eight or nine times already and I have always enjoyed my stay here. It’s a great country and they have some of the best hotels. However, now we are here for a different reason, we are here to compete. However, I know it’s not going to be easy, we have a tough group with some quality teams.”

“The most important thing for us is to win our first game. We have given ourselves plenty of time to prepare and acclimatise to the local conditions. The players will have to get used to the altitude and the few warm-up matches will help us a lot in achieving this. When playing in the World Cup, you have to prepare yourself and make sure the team is in good condition,” said Verbeek.

Australia will open their 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign against Germany in Durban on 13 June, moving to Rustenburg to play Ghana on 19 June and ending their Group Matches against Serbia in Nelspruit on 23 June.

All 31 teams arriving for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ will arrive via terminals not open to the public due to security considerations. The best opportunity for fans to see the teams will be during the public training sessions of the teams. Each team must hold at least one training session open to the public prior to their first group stage match. Further details on these sessions will be announced soon.

Photo: Pim Verbeek, coach of the Australian soccer team
Photographer: Barry Aldworth/Backpagepix

WORLD FREESTYLE FOOTBALLERS TAKE ON CAPE TOWN

Sixty freestyle footballers from all four corners of the world battled it out at the Grand Parade – the venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup fan fest – in Cape Town on Wednesday night at the Red Bull Street Style World Final 2010.

Emotions came to a head as the best freestyle footballers on the planet showed off their tricks in front of thousands of thrilled fans.

The experience gave locals and tourists a taste of things to come at fan fests in the upcoming World Cup. By far the highlight for me occurred even before we entered the arena when a group of Cape Town school children thronged around a group of Korean and Japanese tourists begging them, pens in hand, to “tattoo” their names in Mandarin on their arms. I think one little guy ‘Otto’ had seen too many martial arts movies – and then to top it off, the Korean misheard him (I heard him conversing later about ‘Auto’ to his Japanese friend).

God knows what the little school kid actually had scribed on his arm in Mandarin in the end. It made me smile, and made the time go by a little more quickly as the doors opened almost two hours later than had been advertised. That the crowds waited patiently outside closed gates in the freezing cold says a lot about what the street style tournament meant to them– it didn’t say much about the organisers.

Nevertheless, the music at the arena was fantastic and I even caught a group of Capetonians dancing with a bergie who was loving the music and the festivities.

Eventually, the gates to the arena opened, and the street style championship began.

As a first-timer I learnt much about ‘carousels’, ‘sit-downs’ – saw soccer balls spun on the edge of toes, rolled over the contours of competitors’ torsos, along shins, spun in circles round ankles with sheer control and manoeuvrability; the DJ pumped out his tunes to the moves and the crowds lapped it up,.

Norway’s Anders Solum, 27, was the deserved champion in the end. South African local hero Kamal Ranchod, 21, progressed all the way to the final before finally having to admit defeat.

“I don’t know a single professional footballer who can do these tricks,” commented final judge and three-time African Footballer of the Year, George Weah. “Today we witnessed what it really means to have perfect control of the ball. It took a lot time to come to a decision about which country should walk away with the title.”

Dutch star Edgar Davids, who was on the judging panel at the first World Final in Sao Paolo (BRA) in 2008, was also stuck for words: “Unbelievable. It is such a fine line between total joy and huge disappointment. All you can do is look on and be impressed – these guys are just incredible, and I think the Norwegian athlete definitely deserved to win. Massive respect!”

Third place went to Columbia’s Christian Mayorga, while Austria’s Faruk Onmaz took fourth spot. Major footballing nations such as Brazil.

As part of Red Bull Street Style 2010, over 5000 competitors took part in 221 national qualification tournaments in 60 countries. In 2008 the title went to France’s Séan Garnier.

SA BEAT BRAZIL AT U20 CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE

Katja Hamilton 

The double-header Ghana vs Nigeria and SA vs Brazil showdown at the debut of the u20 Cape Town International Challenge at Newlands Stadium tonight proved to be a humdinger.

As a precursor to the Soccer World Cup, all the teams got the chance to prove their mettle, settling the scores at a 1 all draw in the Ghana Nigeria tussle while South Africa were crowned the champions with a 3-2 win against Brazil. The win had the crowds doing Mexican waves and blowing their vuvuzelas in celebration. 

Brazil scored a goal five minutes into the game followed close on its tail by a 1 all SA equalizer. SA then took the lead three minutes before the end of the first round, which ended on a cliffhanger with Brazil scoring another goal settling the score at 2 all.

The second half of the game saw both sides playing more defensively and just when I thought the final score was set at a draw, SA snuck in a strike eight minutes before the close of game.

The smell of victory was electric.

SANTOS RIVAL AJAX AT MILESTONE MATCH AT CAPE TOWN STADIUM
 

Katja Hamilton

Santos made history yesterday by winning the inaugural football match against Ajax at Cape Town Stadium.

20 000 people watched the teams play to a goalless draw.

A penalty shootout determined the teams’ fates as each side scored four goals. When it came down to sudden death Santos came through victorious winning 6-5.

They were awarded the Soccer Festival Trophy.

For great photos go to:
http://gallery.iol.co.za/v/iolsport/Santos+vs+Ajax+Cape+Town+23_01_2010/

FIRST SOCCER MATCH KICKS OFF AT CAPE TOWN STADIUM TODAY 
 
Katja Hamilton 

Football fans can expect a hot contest at today’s inaugural match at the Cape Town Stadium which sees Ajax Cape Town prepare for all-out battle with Santos.

“Looking at pictures of the new stadium I am sure the game will generate a fantastic atmosphere and as we are playing against our neighbours we are very optimistic that this will become a great event in the history of the city,” said Santos captain Mogogi Gabonamong.

“By the way our team is playing, I am sure we will put in a very good performance. All the guys are training hard at the moment and this game is just what we need to get us up and running for the rest of the season. In answer to your question – yes, it will be three out of three,” said Santos’ top goal scorer Erwin Isaacs.

There to kickoff off this milestone event with their live performance will be top Mother City band, Freshlyground.

20 000 tickets have been sold.

“The demand for tickets in the week leading up to the event is such that the organisers could have easily sold another 20 000 tickets,” said media spokesperson for Ajax Cape Town, Shooz Mekuto.

“We are not surprised by the demand. Cape Town is fanatical about football and when Ajax and Santos faced each other in the ABSA Cup final in 2007, the Athlone Stadium was packed to the rafters. This just shows that the support for local football is as passionate as ever.”

Working hard behind the scenes is stadium operator SAIL/Stade de France who is preparing to test the mettle of the stadium’s operations in the run up to the 2010 World Cup.   

“This game will test the stadium’s ability to host 68 000 people,” said CEO of SAIL, Morné du Plessis. “We’ve got to ensure that the World Cup will run seamlessly so everything from the stadium’s sound, to its turnstiles, change rooms, lighting and generators will be put to the test to ensure that they work without a glitch,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

In the same vein The City of Cape Town’s transport system that is being developed for the World Cup will also be put through its paces.

Extensive no-parking restrictions apply around the stadium and in the nearby residential areas today and spectators who have not purchased pre-paid parking tickets to park at the stadium are strongly encouraged to park in the city centre and use the dedicated free shuttle service to the stadium, which will run from noon to 7.30pm.

 The parking spaces will be on the Foreshore area and the free shuttle bus service will run from Hertzog Boulevard. Only ticket holders for the match will be allowed on the shuttle buses.

“If the dedicated free parking on the Foreshore is fully occupied, people can use the on-street parking and public parking garages within the city centre close to the shuttle pick-up point. Cape Town Traffic Services, together with volunteer staff, will be on hand to assist parking and pedestrian access to the shuttle service,” said the City’s Director of Communications, Pieter Cronje.

As this is a test event and the transport system is being tested for the first time Cronje appealed to those who will attend the match to be patient and display understanding.

Gates to the game open at 2pm and the game kicks off at 4pm.

A Helpline has been set up for those who require further information on the event and can be reached on 021 487 6800.

. For photos of the launch of the stadium go to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152403&id=524731206&saved#/album.php?aid=152403&id=524731206

For photos of President Zuma’s address at the one-year countdown to 2010 World Cup Soccer (June 16, 2009) celebrated at Cape Town Stadium go to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152403&id=524731206&saved#/album.php?aid=152237&id=524731206