The Rainbow Nation is ready to show its true colours

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10 April 2012

Bloodbaths, poisonous snakes, earthquakes, terrorism, murder, muggings, corruption, roads and ticketing problems. Poor old South Africa. The red-faced Rainbow Nation has come under attack on all fronts in the build-up to its greatest challenge.

But as Africa's first World Cup looms, there's a definite pulling together happening through the country I have travelled for the past three weeks.

Angered by foreign newspaper reports which suggest deadly snakes will bite England's players while their WAGs are mugged and murdered in the street, the pressure cooker is forcing both ends of the Rainbow Nation's spectrum to battle this one out together.

For an idea of the effect the World Cup has had on the host nation, one just has to look at the Blue Bulls, South Africa's No1 rugby side. Their traditional home, the 65,000-capacity Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, is out of bounds until after the World Cup. They have been forced to play the semi and final of the southern hemisphere Super 15 tournament in the 40,000-capacity Orlando Super Stadium.

And that stands slap bang in the middle of Soweto, the most notorious township in this once-divided nation's history. Incredibly, the Bulls fans — Afrikaners to a man, they don't like the English much, let alone the ANC government here — have gleefully embraced this diversion on their route to rugby conquest. Though many had never been near Soweto before, tickets to both games sold out in hours and the road to the township was jammed with fans, happy to tell the world: "Actually, it was quite a blast going to Soweto".

Without the World Cup, all this would never have happened. Like the 1995 Rugby World Cup triumph so vividly portrayed by Clint Eastwood in the slightly-Hollywood-tinted Invictus, this tournament is bringing all hues together as one.

In towns, the poor street vendors sell their flags and wing-mirror covers in the colours of Bafana Bafana (The Boys, The Boys) as they hope beyond hope their ailing football team will surprise us all by progressing to the knock-out stages.

In the posh restaurants of Sandton, Centurion, Cape Town and Durban North, the flags fly too and the conversation is not that different. They're rooting for the Boys. Though the black population can reel off the names of every player, the whites know full well the impact Portsmouth's Aaron Mokoena and Everton's player of the year, Steven Pienaar, could have on the tournament.

When they can get hold of them, the middle-class — increasingly multi-coloured — can afford the R550 (£50) Category A tickets for matches, while FIFA have finally relented by producing an over-the-counter R140 (£12) Category D ticket for the football-mad masses who don't have access to credit cards or the internet.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke told me at a tourism exhibition in
Durban: "Even FIFA have to bend sometimes, we've learned a lot from South Africa which we will take on to Brazil 2014."

Despite technical problems which blew up over ticket sales and the stampede at the friendly between Nigeria and North Korea, Valcke now believes most games will be sold out and though the number of fans travelling from abroad will be less than expected, both he and local organising committee chief Danny Jordaan envisage huge crowds. In fact, talking to the pair of them after years of tough planning and agonising decisions over Africa's first World Cup, one can see the link they've forged.

Jordaan, an anti-apartheid activist in his younger days, is a firm believer in the legacy of this World Cup. And certainly believes there will be one. The unbelievable new stadia are in place, the roads have taken their final coat of tarmac, the team hotels have been upgraded beyond all recognition and the problematic Gautrain will run from the airport to Sandton.

FIFA's only real problem is their attitude to the local traders. Accustomed to running tournaments in developed nations, they've seen fit to demand R25,000 (about £1,200) from the unlicensed street vendors and local traders around the stadia. Ahead of the big kick-off, Valcke was refusing to compromise, perhaps not recognising the strength of feeling from the little people who sell sausages, dried meat and flags around the grounds. They may have to relent on that stonewall decision.

Ultimately, though, the nation is ready. And Valcke insists: "We never had a Plan B. We always knew South Africa could do it."

And there is a gathering swell of pride from the locals, which must now be matched by their Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira and his team. With Mexico, Uruguay and France to come, qualification from Group A will be tough but South Africa are unbeaten in nine games since Parreira's return to the hot-seat last November.

Listed at 83 in the latest FIFA rankings — that's the lowest-ever position for a host nation — they failed to qualify for the last African Cup of Nations. But South Africa's last four friendlies have seen a gentle upturn in fortunes. First, they beat Thailand 4-1 in a packed Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, where the stadium is supported by concrete columns in the shape of giraffe legs.

Thailand boss Bryan Robson, the former England captain, said: "An atmosphere like this could really lift South Africa."

And after being subjected to the blast of the traditional vuvuzela, the local soccer horn, he insists it's going to be difficult for the visiting teams. "If 30,000 vuvuzelas can make a noise like this, what happens when you've got 90,000 of them at Soccer City?" he added. "The Mexican coach had better warn his players he won't be able to communicate. They could be a real secret weapon."

That victory was followed by a useful 1-1 draw with Bulgaria in Soweto and wins over Colombia (2-1), Guatemala (5-0) and Denmark (1-0). Over the last three weeks I have been to some local games, where the passion takes some getting used to.

The ordinary black South Africans are ready for the tournament. The paler upper-classes, many of them descended from Greece, Portugal, Holland, Italy, England and Germany, are clamouring for tickets.

And finally, Africa is ready to host the biggest sporting event on earth. It had to be South Africa, where the infrastructure offers so much. It had to be South Africa because this tournament will give so much back to the people.

As John Barnes, the England great, told me "South Africa is like Jamaica. A beautiful country with a bad reputation. They expect murders and gangs but find a beautiful country when they get there. I expect this to be the most colourful, passionate World Cup ever."

And you can't really ask for more than that.

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