With another FIFA kick-off on the horizon, it’s hard to believe it’s been sixteen years since South Africa played host. Looking back, it’s easy to be cynical. Stadium costs of billions were never recouped. The great economic upliftment of our country, well… And then there are FIFA’s activities since 2010, which have included corruption charges and the invention of a Peace Prize to give to a certain American president.
Yip, it would be easy to get cynical about 2010. But let’s not do what’s easy. Let’s do what’s uplifting and nostalgic and a lot more fun.
From the moment we were announced as the hosts of 2010, a wave of gees swept across South Africa. Five new stadiums were built. And no, they haven’t been used as regularly as promised (to justify staggering costs, of course). But they pulled in the crowds and together played host to over three million spectators.
Yes, it was a little odd that the official song for South Africa’s World Cup was performed by a Colombian singer who’d probably never been to Africa. But hey… our own Freshlyground performed it with her. And we got caught up in the rhythm, didn’t we?
And yes, there were concerns. Players worried that Joburg’s high altitude would affect player performance and the motion of the ball. (You’d think FIFA would’ve checked these kinds of details beforehand.) There were also concerns that we wouldn’t be ready in time. Remember when FIFA threatened to pull the plug and move the World Cup to another country? But SA pulled through and it all came together.
Remember Zakumi our mascot – the African leopard with the green hair? The official match ball even had a name: Jabulani. Not to be confused with Jo’bulani, the dedicated ball for the final. (Not a joke.)
But Zakumi and Jabulani aside, most people think of one word when they think 2010. That’s the one… vuvuzela. Has there ever been a more contentious piece of fan paraphernalia? France complained that the distinctive sound was responsible for their poor performance. The King of Football himself Lionel Messi spoke out against the trumpet-like sound. The BBC even considered offering “vuvuzela-free” broadcasts of matches, using some kind of technology or British alchemy to cut out the distinctive noise. (It never happened.)
Speaking of contentious, while the World Cup united us globally, it also gave us opportunities to develop animosity towards nations we’d never thought about before. Who ever had feelings about Uruguay prior to 2010? Luis Suarez fixed all that with his super-infamous handball that knocked Ghana out of contention. When no other African nations remained, we threw our support behind Ghana as the first African country to potentially reach a World Cup semifinal. But it wasn’t to be, thanks to a move that got Suarez red-carded but handed (excuse the pun) the win to Uruguay.
It was only the beginning of a career for Suarez. He went on to bite three people between 2010 and 2014. So there you go.
And then the day of the final arrived. Spain won for the first time in its history. A record-breaking 14 yellow cards were issued. But we don’t reflect on such things, do we? We remember a 91-year-old man who made an unexpected appearance on the pitch. And along with vuvuzelas and Waka Wakas, it’s the image of Nelson Mandela in a golf cart that lives on four World Cups later… and into the history books.