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An audience of 26 Billion? That must be a record eh.

White elephants, bad roads, poor transport routes, lack of tickets for real fans, no hope of an african team making it out of the group stage, it may well be a disaster but the world loves football and none of the negatives will matter. Let's hope the security issues and hooligans don't make it any worse.

@2 i disagree. Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana and Cameroon all have good chances of making it out of the group stages. Although Ivory Coast may have one of the strongest sqauds on paper, they are also in one of the more difficult groups.

I can agree they all have a chance but I don't believe any of them will, I hope I am wrong. The Ivory Coast I would say have the best chance, I expect them to get a result against Portugal and I wasn't particularly impressed with Brazil's recent effort against the England B Team.

It could be close, but from the last world cup, the african teams were the best to watch in my opinion. those two ivory coast games against brazil and portugal should be good, and if drogba et al are firing, they could give them both a run for their money. i'm mcuh more excited by this world cup than i was by the last one.

I think a minimum of 1 but more likely 2 or 3 African teams will progress from their groups. In my opinion there is no way any will win the tournament, but who knows how far they can go!?

Piers, 26 billion? You sure about that mate haha. Are you counting ants as well as people ;) Other than that, nice blog as ever. HAPPY NEW YEAR mate!

The only worry i have is that South Africa is still associated with whites/Westerners. So even if it is a great tournament, i dont see this giving 'Africa' as a whole a better name, but yes it will give South Africa an added boost. Just because we may say South Africa (still seen by many as the one Western place in Africa) did well, it doesn't mean we will go on holiday to Mali, Ghana, Niger etc. This is another World in comparison with South Africa. Sad, but true.

As for Angola and ACN, i looked at visiting, then i looked at hotel prices and standards. Well, that was my biggest laugh of the year.

South Africa is not quite as bad, but still stupidly overpriced for the World Cup. I wont go for this reason.

Maybe Africa can do more harm than good - maybe people will leave saying "Nice but not worth it". I hope thats not true, but to me its coming very close to it. So whilst this could be Africas jackpot it could also be the opposite...

This year will have a HUGE say on Africas progression within the tourism industry - but not until August will we know if its positive or negative!

To John @ 1 and Phil @ 6, the figure of 26 billion cumulative TV audience is provided with a link to an article which states:

"It is expected to draw in a cumulative worldwide television audience of more than 26-billion spectators in 2010 – for Germany 2006, the total cumulative television audience was 26.3-billion."

The emphasis is on "Cumulative".

I would be surprised if at least 2 African teams do not make it out of the group stages and I think an African semi finalist is a real possibility. I do not expect a winner from Africa, but I think the progress will be impressive.

Interesting article - the crime is the real worry as the media will be looking for it and even a few muggings will get headline news, let alone the almost inevitable murder or two.

Whooops, apologies. Wow, 26 billion is staggering. I would never have guessed anywhere near that total, thats why i put 2 and 2 together and got 5! :D

John,

I am not aware of any white elephants or bad roads in South Africa. If anything South Africa, like Rome, will be remembered for it's roads. Please could you expand on this and enlighten readers.

@ #2 from John (and to a lesser extent Phil,who regularily expresses his pro European bias.) Are you serious? I predict that all 6 African nations will go through to the next round and that 2 will contest the semi-finals. Algeria are very organised, very aggressive and have nothing to lose. They can progress at the expense of Slovenia and U.S.A. Nigeria have the talent to progress. Cote D'Ivoire are a better side than portugal. Cameroon are very strong all over the pitch -Alex Song is the most intelligent defensive midfielder in the world. South Africa showed that their football team can produce extraordinary performances, far greater than the sum of their parts. Ghana's group is tough but then so are Ghana. When the going gets tough...
Most importantly try to imagine the influence on morale and confidence of an AFRICAN world cup.

If you think all the stadiums will be used to their potential after the World Cup you must be mad... hence White Elephants. The roads in general in South Africa are god yes but if you plan on any kind of rural journey i.e. out of the city and off the motorway you'll likely to encounter very poor lighting and surfaces. Also apologies with regard to 26 billion but who cares, it's porbably similar to the global cumulative audience of big brother.

Anybody know where I can watch it on the box this year, not really heard anything regarding broadcasting?

Barmy, all six nations going through. of course we should all forget about the good organisation, desire and technical abilities of the smaller european sides. The seeded teams obviously have no chance and the rest are cannon fodder for the African teams. Whilst I hope that they do cause some upsets we should be realistic and not get carried away until maybe the World Cup kicks off. African teams i've watched in previous WC ANC and friendlies etc always seem very determined but this isn't always enough, let's hope they do get a bit more luck than they had with the draw.

The quality of African football has been massively underestimated as far back as I can remember. African teams have encountered huge disadvantages and bad luck at almost every turn in world cup history. The Algeria team in '82 were as good as any other team in the tournament. That in a tournament which featured some of the best football ever played. Cameroon were unbeaten and would have qualified at the expense of italy had Roger Milla's brilliant goal against Peru not been wrongly ruled offside. Yet by 1990 people were writing them off again, as no-hopers...we know what happened then. They played one of England's best ever teams off the park in the quarters and should have won. Nigeria in 94 were the better side against Italy only losing after a moment of madness from Oliseh in the 90th minute. They were good enough to have lifted the trophy. '98 was a washout for African teams and Senegal deserved no better than their quarter final in 2002. Overall however, if we are to believe that fortune comes the full circle, then Africa is due for payback. This is also the first World Cup since 1994 in which Africa's qualifiers truely represent the best of African football. It is also the first time in history that African teams can boast line-ups on paper which are comparable with the very best teams in the world. More importantly than any of these reasons though is psychology. Anybody who secretly believes that African teams will be hindered by the extra expectations of an African World Cup, that they will "bottle it", should try telling that to the likes of Samuel, Michael and Didier. Belief and confidence are everything. This time Africa really believes. Destiny calls. (sorry Slovenia)

Holland have never won the world cup, no african team has either, england have only one it once, you can only blame so much on bad luck and present a list of excuses. Teams are not underestimated if in the end they fail to win anything. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert but i'm pretty sure in the past that the best team in the world cup has not always won the competition but I don't believe any african team has ever been good enough or done enough to deserve winning the competition.

South Africa, and indeed Africa as a whole stands to gain a lot from World Cup 2010. South Africans have the opportunity to see what Africans can do. It is a shame that @ Phil will only associate anything potentially good about the South African world cup with whites. This is strange. Danny Jordan, and the rest of the team is made up of all the colours of South Africa. So also was the grouping ceremony. They displayed all that is beautiful about S.Africa. Talking about African participation, I like the way most outsiders enjoy steriotyping African soccer. South Africa was not able to make the African Nations Cup qualifiers, yet they gave Brazil and Spain a big run for their money. Noto talk of how Egypt that couldn't qualify defeated Italy. Africa will pleasantly surprise the world. There is better organisatioin of teams and the primodal problems of money is a thing of the past in countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire. Watch out!

Piers Edwards : “Given Africa's long history of war, corruption, poverty and HIV/Aids, “

(Let me have a big yawn first. There, that's better! )

Now, the above quote has almost become a standard signature -- a punchline, if you prefer -- in the writings and speaking of many a British commentator. Indeed. no article written or commentary about Africa by a Brit would be complete without the above insertions. And I thought Mr. Edwards was writing about football, but all of a sudden, he assumes a historian, an economist and what have you, but not just on South Africa but on AFRICA, the continent.

I don't imagine there are that many economics, history and sociology graduates working as sport commentators, but eh! I might be wrong. Why do sport commentators – and it is not just Mr. Edwards, here, but many a British [football] commentator -- pretend to be equipped beyond their knowledge and expertise, when commenting on sports in Africa or exhibit an alacrity of knowledge of the continent.

Many people travel around the world, but to appreciate it and not belittle the positives or amplify the negatives. In this blog, Mr. Edward even denies Africa her well deserved good news by injecting into it, negative comments as if intended to neutralize the positives about Africa. But Why?

In Africa is "hell on earth", one wonders why there are so many Europeans living and working in Africa – including a close member of my family – an European-- who has been living in Africa for over 40 years and feels homesick just spending a few weeks in Europe. She is very happy in Africa, surrounded by family and grand children, and not in some old people's home or awaiting government handout of extra 50p for heating in the winter.

Piers Edwards : “... many African media stations, not to mention football fans, cannot afford to travel to one of the world's most expensive countries...�

The London-based ECA is basically, an employment agency and other things on the side, and is NOT to be confused with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Its report is contradicted by similar reports by reputable organizations such as the UN, Economist Intelligence Unit, Mercier etc, who have the [resources] to conduct such worldwide survey. Every other low-budget-cut-corners survey is a fraud. The Angolan government should take them to task for their misleading report.

Perhaps Mr Edwards would like to confine his commentaries to football (Yes, football) and not inject comments in his blogs to distract the reader. After all, isn't that why we come to this thread? That is to say, to discuss football and not economics. Read the Economist Intelligence Unit surveys for the past 5 years: No Angolan city is even in the top 100 most expensive cities for [expatriate employees]. In Africa: Douala, Cameroon (27th), Lagos, Nigeria (32nd).

All these distractions from football is making one forget the football issue.

@ Louis Ndimele and @ Akaexpensesfiddler. Yes!! Come on. They will always doubt us. If there are two pieces of conflicting evidence they will choose to believe the negative conclusion. Like you say Louis, they say "South Africa are rubbish they couldn't even qualify for the African Nations Cup.." instead of saying "WOW look how strong and competitive African football is, South Africa who held their own against Brazil and Spain, couldn't qualify for the African Nations cup..". Ultimately, it all comes down to the belief that Africans are inferior. Everything is measured against the standards and values of Europe. These naysayers are a weight around my neck. Help us The Elephants, Black Stars, Lions, Eagles, Bafana Bafana and the Fennecs. Shut these people up for good!!! Do it....And now I'm gonna have a little dance. ;-)

@Piers Edwards, I had to join this blog today because of this stereotyped write-up (talking about poverty, HIV/AIDS, maladministration etc in one of your paragraphs above). Please, do your homework more. Come to Africa, move around (there are some 53 federations)feel the different cultures -football and otherwise before you write 'authoritatively' about Africa and Africans. You set the tone for most of the misinformed threads on this blog. No offence, just a piece of advise.

Yeah Piers. And try to smile, you're in Africa.

When Argentina qualified for the World Cup instead of Colombia and Ecuador I thought wow what a competitive continent, Argentina must have been amazing in qualifying. That's why I think the fact that South Africa didn't qualify has no relevance to their undoubted quality, I believe they will win the World Cup with ease.

Holland are a very good team. No doubt they desereve a break at some point. Maybe it's their year. I respect all the teams at the world cup. They all deserve to be there and they all have the right to be ambitious. Whoever plays well will win my admiration. I'm not saying that the African teams will definately do well or that any match will be easy. I'm not saying an African team will definately win the world cup. But there is an underlying assumption of European superiority over Africa which is only ever briefly lifted. John#4 you said that you didn't think ANY of the African teams would get past the first round. That comment has to be viewed in a certain socio-political context. Because in purely footballing terms it is nonsense. Ok? and remember sarcasm is the lowest form of wit and a sure sign of a man with his back against the wall.

I do not respect all of the teams in the world cup, I do not respect France and they do not deserve to be there as you claim. In footballing terms it makes plenty of sense, all of the african teams have at least one team in their group ranked higher by FIFA, all of them but Cameroon have at least two teams ranked higher. You can try and be smart or you can look at the facts. Despite this I do hope that all the African teams get through, it would make for a more interesting and enthused WC. After the ANC i'm sure many people will be aware of the quality of football they might put on show at the WC and some people including myself might change our view on their chances. As for the comment on sarcasm perhaps you should try not to be so offended by my opinions and gain a sense of humour while you're at it.

All to play for!! Roll on 2010.

How are the stadia suddenly white elehpants? Half of them are already in good use, with others being operated by major consortiums e.g. Stade de France/Sail in Cape Town.

Its amazing, how South Africa is great for rugby and cricket supporters who have travelled to and around SA for years but mention football and we become some sort of backwards backwater.

Of course there are concerns, we are a developing country but some seem to think there are no transport plans, no operations plans, no security plans.

I can assure that transport around our WC final venue at Soccer City is highly likely to run much better than Wembley stadium. It has an adjacent rail station, BRT routes, a huge transport interchange and lots of parking. Even better, its withing walking distance of the Main Media Centre.

All other venues have highly detailed transport operations plans. Extensive documents covering all transport needs for each constituent group.

#2 and #6 I don't blame you much for thinking that way but what I can tell you is that being from Europe doesn't win games. It's having the best players that win games and right now Africa has the best of them. Africa has the best strikers in the world (Eto'o and Drogba), the best attacking and defensive midfielders in the world (Essien and Alex Song) and ofcourse very strong and determined defensive players . keep on dreaming of the past just as nobody ever believed Barack Obama could beat the Clintons. Cameroon, Ghana and Ivory Coast with all top their respective groups and read my lips very well " South Africa 2010 will be won by one of these 3 teams."

@ John....."11. At 12:57pm on 04 Jan 2010, john wrote:

If you think all the stadiums will be used to their potential after the World Cup you must be mad... hence White Elephants. The roads in general in South Africa are god yes but if you plan on any kind of rural journey i.e. out of the city and off the motorway you'll likely to encounter very poor lighting and surfaces. Also apologies with regard to 26 billion but who cares, it's porbably similar to the global cumulative audience of big brother."

I am a South African living in Bristol and previosuly in Manchester.....leave the main roads in Bristol and guess what, no street lights and have to pull over to allow on coming cars to pass! As for white elephatns, I doubt it as most stadiums have been in use for more than 50 years.

And which country does John live, where they have lighting on rural roads!?! I have lived in England AND USA and it is not strange to find bumpy unlit rural roads.
South African Soccer is vibrant and busy enough to keep the stadiums in good use LONG after the World cup, or do you think we do not have the capacity to know what we really need?-as in ,would we spend so much money to build something that we would use only for a few weeks-?! Phu-leeze stop being so negative .We certainly don't need people like you , if you don't want to come,STAY! your seat wont be vacant- and we will not miss you .
Our stadiums will be in use long after the world cup and yes even our poorly lit bumpy rural roads too