As a lover of the sport we refer to as soccer in the United States, and an African, first and foremost; I must say that I am proud of South Africa and the way she has conducted herself throughout what most consider the greatest sporting event there is. Prior to the World Cup, there were those among us, that spoke loudly and said that it was wrong of FIFA ( the international governing body of soccer), to select South Africa, but most importantly an African nation, as the host country of the 2010 World Cup. They said that South Africa was not economically equipped to hold such an event. These pessimistic thinkers said that they feared the safety of those that were planning to attend the World Cup. But South Africa has so far, proudly defeated her critics by wonderfully preparing for the World Cup and now, as the tournament reached it's quarter-final stage, soccer fans and viewers of the World Cup across the globe, have express feelings of delight when speaking about what they have seen in the last few days. Those attending the event or those that have left due to their countries being eliminated, speak about feeling at home due to the kindness and generosity of their hosts.
When the great Nelson Mandela said that, sports has the power "to change the world ... to inspire ... to unite people", he was right. The sport of soccer has brought South Africans and Africans as a whole together. For over ten years, we told the world that Africa was capable of and equip to host the World Cup. When we made these claims, our friends laughed. They said, it was not enough to say that we were ready; they said we needed or had to show in our actions. I must now firmly say that we have shown that like Germany, France and the United States we can be a successful host of an event like the World Cup. When the World Cup kicked-off on June 11, I cried. My tears were not tears of sadness, but instead, were tears of joy. As an African, I've never been as proud as I am today. I hope and pray that the World Cup will be the start of good things to come on our beloved continent.
