All eyes focused now on S Africa
Monday, 7 June 2010
From Fazle Rashid
NEW YORK, June 06: Soccer madness, already on view worldwide, will take a frenzied form from June 11. All eyes will be focused on South Africa with international media persons converging to report the matches. This African nation of Nelson Mandela will be in the spotlight for the first time since the end of apartheid.
The eyes of half the world will be rolling in exasperation, boredom or indifference. The eyes of the other half will be glued to television or computer screens in living rooms, bars and offices watching soccer matches beamed from South Africa, wrote a reputed British magazine. The World Cup is being described as the biggest international festival of the most popular sport on the planet.
The World Cup anthem Waka, Waka (this time for Africa) has been composed by the Colombian pop star Shakira. The official mascot is a stuffed leopard with spiked green hair. The mascot was made in China. America's fast food chain outlet, Mcdonald, is the official restaurant of the tournament.. Three million tickets are already on sale. The cheapest single World Cup ticket in South Africa is $18 and the lowest price for the rest of the world is $71.
South African government has invested a whopping $5 billion to stage the sporting extravaganza. The recession has cast its gloom on the game. The number of foreigners buying tickets will be down by about a fifth from earlier projection.
Thirty-two teams will take part in the tournament and 736 players will be on view. FIFA expects a healthy profit from the World Cup after investing $100 million.
Though stars of yesteryear like Pele of Brazil, Maradona of Argentina and Zidane of France may not be performing but there will be no dearth of excitement. Each player will pocket $2000 per day costing FIFA $40 million.
NEW YORK, June 06: Soccer madness, already on view worldwide, will take a frenzied form from June 11. All eyes will be focused on South Africa with international media persons converging to report the matches. This African nation of Nelson Mandela will be in the spotlight for the first time since the end of apartheid.
The eyes of half the world will be rolling in exasperation, boredom or indifference. The eyes of the other half will be glued to television or computer screens in living rooms, bars and offices watching soccer matches beamed from South Africa, wrote a reputed British magazine. The World Cup is being described as the biggest international festival of the most popular sport on the planet.
The World Cup anthem Waka, Waka (this time for Africa) has been composed by the Colombian pop star Shakira. The official mascot is a stuffed leopard with spiked green hair. The mascot was made in China. America's fast food chain outlet, Mcdonald, is the official restaurant of the tournament.. Three million tickets are already on sale. The cheapest single World Cup ticket in South Africa is $18 and the lowest price for the rest of the world is $71.
South African government has invested a whopping $5 billion to stage the sporting extravaganza. The recession has cast its gloom on the game. The number of foreigners buying tickets will be down by about a fifth from earlier projection.
Thirty-two teams will take part in the tournament and 736 players will be on view. FIFA expects a healthy profit from the World Cup after investing $100 million.
Though stars of yesteryear like Pele of Brazil, Maradona of Argentina and Zidane of France may not be performing but there will be no dearth of excitement. Each player will pocket $2000 per day costing FIFA $40 million.