Gone: the first host nation to fail to make a World Cup second round. But forgotten? Disgraced, even? Most definitely not.

That was South Africa’s extremely satisfactory state of affairs as they bowed out of the tournament with valour in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, deserved winners against 1998 champions and 2006 finalists France.

Just in itself, that is a momentous achievement, French camp turmoil or not. We must not lightly dismiss that.

In fact, roll back the clock several months to when the draw was made, and Bafana were pitted against three teams streets ahead of them on the world rankings.

So featureless and inept did the national team look at that point that critics were perfectly entitled to suggest they might be in danger of not earning a solitary point in Group A.

Well, Aaron Mokoena’s outfit went well better than that, eclipsing the supposed European power into third place and only being eliminated on a three-goal inferiority basis to the other team to finish with them on four points, Mexico.

To put it in simplest terms, Bafana had two sprightly games and one clear-cut dud (against Uruguay) at this World Cup, and they have largely won the hearts of the country as a result – across our various communities.

It is true that France, already at sixes and sevens on their unhappy safari, suffered a ghastly blow under the circumstances with the sending-off (debatable, perhaps, but hardly a scandalous call) of Yoann Gourcuff as early as the 26th minute.

But South Africa, pleasingly, had already got an encouraging foothold on proceedings and led 1-0 courtesy of central defender Bongani Khumalo’s strong leap at the far post to meet a deep, swirling corner kick from Siphiwe Tshabalala.

It was just the tonic Bafana, sporting a massively re-arranged midfield and Bernard Parker to provide beneficial aid to Katlego Mphela up front, needed.

Indeed, when they entered the half-time tunnel 2-0 to the good and presumably quickly aware that there had been a goal in the other group game at the Royal Bafokeng, their Mission Impossible - winning by a genuine bundle - was beginning to look not quite the stuff of fantasy.

But the French “corpse” did retain some sort of pulse, with Franck Ribery suddenly getting his game together to a good degree, and when Florent Malouda pulled one back with 20 minutes to go it was really just about holding on for the pride-restoring Bafana victory.

It was only South Africa’s second ever win in a World Cup tournament, remember, and certainly their biggest scalp at the blue-chip event.

There was great snap and movement about Bafana on this occasion, unlike at Loftus where they had seemed listless, timid and wholly unimaginative against Uruguay.

With a bit of luck they might have prevailed by a wider margin in Bloemfontein and really made Mexico sweat late in their match at Rustenburg before qualifying despite the lone-goal reverse to the same Uruguayans.

Mphela looked like a distinguished greyhound in this game, the tall and athletic striker warranting his goal despite it being a scrambled effort and coming within a whisker of a second when he really ought to have netted soon after the break.

The engines of players like Steven Pienaar and Tshabalala were back purring again, too, while lanky Khumalo thoroughly atoned at the back, I thought, for his traumatic night against the wiles of Diego Forlan and company days earlier.

Mokoena was a muscular defensive presence too – though I hope he saw no need to respond especially to a wacko missive from the ANC Youth League this week questioning his game and leadership.

The entire South African defensive unit deserve laurels for giving Moeneeb Josephs, the goalkeeper deputising for suspended Itumeleng Khune, a surprisingly quiet outing.

Cautiously, I believe we can sum up Bafana’s World Cup - and a few notable friendly wins in the lead-up - by suggesting there is “progress” at the very least in their quest to claw back to much higher rungs on the global ladder.

A good start on that intended northward curve would be to perk up their performance on the continent: they do look capable of ensuring they stave off the ignominy henceforth of failing to make the African Nations Cup cut.

Several of the Bafana players have graduated at the World Cup to near-household names in parts of our country where they were previously unheralded, and it would be good if continued momentum is ensured by South Africa playing more matches at venues where they have previously been seen all too seldom.

Bafana may have exited, stage left, but at least South Africans may continue to wear their colours with sustained pride and simply revel in what’s left of this grandest of global sports bashes…

Source: http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/WorldCup/TournamentNews/Bafana-make-nation-proud-20100622

Harare - Brazil weathered a Zimbabwe storm before scoring twice late in the opening half to set up a 3-0 victory on Wednesday in a World Cup warm-up game here.

It was easy in the end for the team ranked first in the world against one that does not even feature among the top 100, but the South Americans stamped their authority only after surviving several goalmouth scares.

There will be one more African safari for the Brazilians, against Tanzania in Dar es Salaam next Monday, before they face likely Group G whipping boys North Korea on June 15 in Johannesburg.

Left-back Michel Bastos converted a free-kick on 41 minutes, Robinho snatched an opportunist second three minutes later and Elanograbbed a soft third goal 11 minutes into the second half.

President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai were among a capacity crowd as Brazil faced African rivals for only the fifth time in their history after matches against Cameroon, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa.

The 'Warriors' should have taken the lead on 19 minutes when shambolic Brazilian defending presented France-based Ovidy Karuru with a glorious close-range chance he blazed over.

Zimbabwe, who have never qualified for the World Cup, were stroking the ball about with the same aplomb as the five-time winners in warm, overcast weather at the 60 000-capacity National Stadium.

They came close again when livewire striker Knowledge Musona won a goalmouth aerial duel only to be denied by a diving parry from goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who had replaced Julio Cesar a few minutes earlier.

Warm-up games do carry the risk of injuries and Brazilian hearts pumped a little faster 10 minutes before half-time when star midfielder Kaka briefly clutched his right leg after a hard but fair challenge.

Left-back has been a problem position for Brazil since father time caught up with legend Roberto Carlos and Lyon man Bastos did his claims for a permanent place no harm by opening the scoring.

A free-kick outside the penalty area and right of the near post presented the opportunity and he notched his first international goal with an unstoppable shot that flew into the roof of the net.

If Zimbabwe suspected football gods can be cruel, the view was confirmed soon after when they failed to cut out a Maicon pass and Robinho brought his national team goal tally to 21 with a close-range shot.

Coach Dunga, a World Cup winner in 1994 as a combative midfielder, rang the changes during the interval by introducing defenders Dani Alves and Luisao and midfielder Julio Baptista.

Zimbabwe skipper Benjani Mwaruwari, a doubtful starter for the biggest football fixture in the 30-year history of the nation, gave way early in the second half for Kingston Nkatha.

Brazil were in cruise control and went three goals ahead when Dani Alves burst into the penalty area and passed to Elano, who had all the time and space in the world to stroke the ball over the line.

Source: http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/WorldCup/TournamentNews/Brazil-weather-Zimbabwe-storm-20100602

A Month of Top Class Football

World Cup

What does the phrase, "World Cup", symbolise? As a sportsman or woman the chance to represent your country, at the highest level, under the scrutiny of the eyes of the world. It could be the highlight of your career. It could also be the most unexpected disappointment.

This is why the football World Cup is so captivating. The tournament is already on everyone's lips, even people who have never before shown an interest. What is billed as a month of top class football is accompanied by heated discussions and passionate debates. There will be both celebrations and tears, with players and coaches taking both the blame and the acclaim. This year, even before the "Finals", the odour of controversy hung in the air with the highly suspected hand-ball by Thierry Henry that effectively ended Ireland's hopes of travelling south in June.

It is the 19th Football World Cup and the teams of thirty-two nations are currently training to make their countries proud. There are those teams that have been here many times before, that know how the heady mix of expectation and exhilaration can tip the scales either way. They are all too aware of the underdog all too eager to step into the boots of the big boys and shake up the game a little. Then there are those for whom the expectation is not so high, those that can relax a little and enjoy the novelty of having made it this far and maybe, just maybe, spring a surprise!

Who will be that random outsider who shocks everyone by making it steadily through the rounds? Could it be South Africa in their hosting year? 2009 saw Nigeria reach the Finals of the U17 World Cup in their own country. Three times winners; this was not such a surprise. However, the story was of the 'random outsider'. Switzerland, as the debutant, was truly the underdog, yet somehow managed to defeat Italy, Germany, Brazil and finally their Nigerian hosts to take the trophy. No home advantage there!

For African football the biggest upset has already occurred. Three times champions of the African Cup of Nations, Egypt should have been an automatic qualifier. It is both surprising and disappointing that the number one African team did not qualify to play in this historic event. Yet maybe this will only add to the captivating element that is the paradox of the most watched sporting event in the world.

Recent analysis by Deloitte, the business advisory firm, has found that revenue per available room (revPAR), a key performance indicator for the hotel industry, jumped 157.5 percent to CAD$202 in Vancouver during the month of February when it hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

The question however is, will the FIFA World Cup 2010 deliver the same boost to South Africa's hotel trade as an event like the Olympics Games did to it's host city? Until we are in a position to retrospectively evaluate, this remains an unrealised potential. What is clear though is that the increased profile is part of the legacy that an event like FIFA 2010 or the Olympic Games leaves on the host country. The exposure that Vancouver received during the Games came at the perfect time after 18 months of revPAR declines due to the economic crises.

The exposure South Africa has and will receive is a brilliant opportunity to show the rest of the world what an incredible destination Africa is. We at African Sun fully intend to deliver on this promise and show the world our 'African Sun way'.