Titles published by Rocklands Communications:
Dec 2009 • Issue 38
Oh, what a night!Click on the arrows above to either skip through the photographs in the slideshow (single right arrow), or have it play in sequence (double right arrow). “Oh, what a night!” exclaimed Charlize Theron as she strided onto the CTICC stage to charm the 3 000-strong audience in Cape Town and an estimated 200-m TV viewers in 200 countries with ad lib-comments that gave life to the prepared script and showed that she understood the implications of Bafana Bafana being drawn into the same group as France, Mexico and Uruguay in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Click on the arrows above to either skip through the photographs in the slideshow (single right arrow), or have it play in sequence (double right arrow).
What a night, indeed. Even the wind and rain contributed by staying away. A few blocks away a packed Long Street was reverberating with the sound of some of the top SA bands, striving to be heard over the hum of a 30 000 – 50 000 crowd enjoying themselves, all shown on huge screens. This Fan Park gave Capetonians a foretaste of the abundant fun waiting for them when this experience will be repeated on the Grand Parade for 30 days and nights from the pre-opening concert on June 10th to the final game on July 11th. And they’re loving it.
Click on the arrows above to either skip through the photographs in the slideshow (single right arrow), or have it play in sequence (double right arrow).
Part of the crowd gathered outside the CTICC to see the celebrities walk down the red carpet, many dwarfed by the statuesque models escorting them. Politicians – mayors, premiers, and it seems like the whole parliament, topped by former presidents FW de Klerk, Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Mothlanthe, and our conscience Archbishop Desmond Tutu – business people like Patrice Motsepe and his glamorous wife, Sayed and Yusuf Dockrat of Sedgars and Gavin Cowley of adidas representing our industry, followed by football greats like Lucas Radebe, Phil Masinga, Cafu, Kalusha Bulwa, then the teams and FIFA and local administrators. The loudest cheers are for the draw assistants: David Beckham seriously in need of a sane hairdresser, a bemused-looking John Smit, a dapper-looking Makhaya Ntini, Haile Gebrselassie in a white traditional suit, Banyana Banyana’s Simphiwe Dlulu beautiful in yellow and Matthew Booth, greeted by the dignitaries with his signature “Booooth” call. Oh, what a night it is to be South African. So proud-making.
Click on the arrows above to either skip through the photographs in the slideshow (single right arrow), or have it play in sequence (double right arrow).
The Final Draw show is a feast of colour, African drums, dancers and singers that have several of the approximately 1 000 international journalists bobbing in their seats. TV presenter Carol Manana is an accomplished hostess and even manages dress changes in-between acts from Johnny Clegg, Benin’s Angelique Kidjon and the Soweto Gospel Choir. Africa is the theme and Africa is the inspiration of this classy, slick and at times moving show (although TV-signals apparently didn’t do justice to it). The reporters, many of them so scathing about South Africa after the Confederations Cup, actually applaud. They see a side of Africa that they can admire and look forward to experiencing. None of them seem to be too fazed about the hours they were locked out of the press centre in the CTICC while the bomb squad and dogs secured the area after a bomb threat by a German photographer. The fool was promptly arrested, giving our police an opportunity to demonstrate their readiness to the international press. The calendar of the preceding week was packed with media updates and events, like the unveiling of the new Jabulani (“Celebrate” in Zulu) World Cup ball with, as can be expected, adidas-sponsored David Beckham giving the ball’s new Grip n Groove technology a thumbs up; and the historic FIFA executive committee meeting on Robben Island. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke gave feedback on ticket sales: so far, 674 403 tickets have been sold, 361 582 to South Africans – most of the special Category 4 tickets at a special price available only to SA residents had been sold, but sadly few South Africans bought tickets in the more expensive other categories to support Bafana Bafana. There will be about 2-m tickets available during the 3rd phase that started on December 5th and ends on January 22nd - if some matches have been over-subscribed, there will be a draw in February - with extra ticketing centres planned to accommodate people who do not want to buy over the internet at www.fifa.com. And there can be no doubt that the World Cup is about big money: the Organising Committee gets the income of ticket sales and a donation of $250-m from FIFA, who generated an income of $3.5-bn during the 2007-2010 period, $2.3-bn was through the sale of commercial, broadcasting etc. rights. Last year, FIFA spent $133-m on development programmes, $70-m for the Win in Africa programme to promote football and education in Africa. The total prize money is $420-m, 61% more than at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The winning team will get $30-m, the runners-up $24-m, semi-finalists $20-m and quarter-finalists $18-m. Teams that reach the Round of 16 will get $9-m and all the teams that leave after the group stages will get $8-m. In addition, all teams will receive a $1-m grant as preparation costs, and every club who has a player at the World Cup will receive $1 600 per day, per player. But, once the names are drawn, the focus shifts to football, the draw groupings and the cities where the matches will be played. Retailers in the nine host cities can now start to prepare themselves for the language and nationality of the fans that will flock to their cities before, on and after match days. In addition, the host cities will have Fan Parks where fans can watch all the games played elsewhere in the country free of charge. MatchesGauteng – Soccer City stadium seats 88 000; Ellis Park stadium seats 61 000; Loftus Versfeld seats 49 000Johannesburg Fan Parks: Elkah Stadium in Soweto and Innes Free Park in Sandton Pretoria Fan Parks tba 11 June 4nm (Soccer City): SA vs Mexico 12 June 1:30 (Ellis Park): Argentina vs Nigeria 13 June 8:30 (Loftus Versfeld): Serbia vs Ghana 14 June 1:30 (Soccer City): Netherlands vs Denmark 15 June 8:30 (Ellis Park): Brazil vs Korea (DPR) 16 June 8:30 (Loftus Versfeld): SA vs Uruguay 17 June 8:30 (Soccer City): Argentina vs Korea (Rep) 18 June 4pm (Ellis Park): US vs Slovenia 19 June 8:30 (Loftus Versfeld): Denmark vs Cameroon 20 June 8:30 (Soccer City): Brazil vs Cote d'Ivoire 21 June 8:30 (Ellis Park): Spain vs Honduras 23 June 4pm (Loftus Versfeld): Us vs Algeria 23 June 8:30 (Soccer City): Germany vs Ghana 24 June 4pm (Ellis Park): Italy vs Slovakia 25 June 8:30 (Loftus Versfeld): Spain vs Chile 27 June 8:30 (Soccer City): Round 16 (1) 1B vs 2A 28 June 8:30 (Ellis Park): Round 16 (7) 1G vs 2H 29 June 4pm Round 16 (6) (Loftus Versfeld): 1F vs 2E 2 July 4pm Quarter-final (Soccer City): 1 vs 3 (A) 3 July 8:30 (Ellis Park): Quarter-final 6 vs 8 (D) 11 July 8:30 (Soccer City): Final Fan Park on Grande Parade with Fan Walk to stadium 11 June 8:30 Uruguay vs France 14 June 8:30 Italy vs Paraguay 18 June 8:30 England vs Algeria 21 June 1:30pm Korea (DPR) vs Portugal 24 June 8:30 Netherlands vs Cameroon 29 June 8:30 Round 16 (8) 1H vs 2G 3 July 4pm Quarter-final (B) 2 vs 4 6 July 8:30 Semi-final A vs C (i) Fan Park: New Beach close to Kings Park Complex 13 June 4pm Germany vs Australia 16 June 4pm Spain vs Switzerland 19 June 4pm Netherlands vs Japan 22 June 8:30 Nigeria vs Korea (Rep) 25 June 4pm Brazil vs Portugal 28 June 4pm Round 16 (5) 1E vs 2F 7 July Semi-Finals 8:30 (ii) B vs D Fan Park: St Georges Park 12 June 4pm Korea (Rep) vs Greece 15 June 4pm Cote d'Ivoire vs Portugal 18 June 1:30 Germany vs Serbia 21 June 4pm Switzerland vs Chile 23 June 4pm England vs Slovenia 26 June Round 16 (1) 1A vs 2B 2 July 4pm Quarter finals C 5 vs 7 10 July 8:30 3rd & 4th place Fan Park: Manguang Outdoor Sports Centre 14 June 4pm Japan vs Cameroon 17 June 4pm Nigeria vs Greece 20 June 1:30 Paraguay Slovakia 22 June 4pm SA vs France 25 June 8:30 Korea (DPR) vs Cote d'Ivoire 27 June 4pm Round 16 (4) 1D vs 2C Fan Park: Fields College School 12 June 8:30 England vs US 15 June 1:30 NZ vs Slovakia 19 June 1:30 Australia vs Ghana 22 June 4pm Mexico vs Uruguay 24 June 8:30 Denmark vs Cameroon 26 June Round 16 (3) 1C vs 2D Fan Park: Polokwane Cricket Club 13 June 1:30 Algeria vs Slovenia 17 June 1:30 Mexico vs France 22 June 8:30 Argentina vs Greece 24 June 4pm Paraguay vs NZ Fan Park: Bergvlam High School 16 June 1:30 Honduras vs Chile 20 June 4pm Netherlands vs Cameroon 23 June 8:30 Serbia vs Ghana 25 June 4pm Korea (DPR) vs Cote d'Ivoire About us | Contact us Sports Trader | Tackle Trader | Directory | Promotional publications Sports Trader is published bi-monthly by Rocklands Communications If you have comments or suggestions regarding this website please contact the webmaster |
