It's less than 365 days till the next World Cup in South Africa. No doubt, it will be as heated as, or even more, as Wolrd Cup 2006, where Italy won the finals game in Germany. Even with the change in scenery and the loss of european comforts, it will be unlikely that international spectators will decrease in number. South Africa believes that even though there is an international economic crisis in the world right now, this will not hinder the fans from 'paying' to see their home teams play for their countries.
The World Cup is indeed one of the biggest and most prestigious tournaments in football. From
all over the world, countries get their best players and assemble a team which, supposedly, is far
better than any other team in their land. This is not always the case but let's talk about that some other time. Most often than not, the team members are member from local professional clubs that play in their local professional tournaments such as
the English Premier League and the Bundesliga.
As of now, there are six qualified teams, namely Japan, Korea Republic, Korea DPR, Australia,
Netherlands, and the host country, South Africa. More countries will be added to the list as
qualifying rounds end. Hopefully, Spain and Portugal are able to enter the world tourney in the
south of Africa as these are the teams I am rooting for.
If the Philippines did not fail to register for the tournament, I would be rooting for it. Sadly, it is part of the three countries under the AFC that have failed to register. I feel really proud of my home country, even though there are a lot of bull that's happening in the government nowadays. Even with these, I am still proud to be a Filipino and to any Filipino who is able to represent the
country. Let's just stay away from politics as it will make this entry very long.
The host country, South Africa, has done major renovations and constructions to accomodate the games of World Cup 2010. They renovated their five major stadiums and have started on constructing five more. These will serve as the house under which the World Cup will stage its games. Large amounts of fans are expected to pour into South Africa, which will in turn boost its tourism sector.
Here are some of the stadiums that are going to be used for the World Cup in 2010.
Soccer City, Johannesburg, Newlands, Cape Town, Ellispark Stadium, Johannesburg, Lotus Versfeld, Pretoria (pictures following respectively)
images from www.stadiumguide.com
How was South Africa chosen as the sponsor of the World Cup in 2010?
"As the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically for the tournament. However, South Africa is the first host since 1934 to participate in World Cup qualifiers. This is because the CAF qualifiers also serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, for which South Africa had to qualify separately. Like the previous tournament, the defending champions Italy do not qualify automatically." - wikipedia.com
I can't wait till the World Cup in South Africa on 2010 starts! Even though I can't go, I'll be sure to keep up with what's happening in that part of the world!
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