Soccer Passing Drills

On Friday the 11th of June 2010 the whole of africa will join the many soccer fans the world over as the day an African has the honor to host the FIFA World Cup. For eighty years now the FIFA World Cup host countries have revolved around Europe and the Americas. Exactly how is the venue for the cup decided upon?The latest selection policy is that any country can bid for the world cup as long as their continental confederation hasn’t hosted it in the past two years which makes a Africa very eligible. South Africa nearly won the 2006 bidding against Germany with a final tally of 12 votes to 11. For this years World Cup though, all  bidding countries were African the top three-South Africa, Morocco and Egypt. South Africa beat Morocco by 4 votes leading to this memorable event. Those are the ‘technical’ reasons why this years World Cup is being held in South Africa but is the country itself capable of holding such an event? If you’d ask me, I’d say they surely are, here are my reasons:

* They’ve got a great team- that simple fact makes them deserving to have the great privilege of hosting the cup.If you’d ask me, having a World Cup in a country whose team isn’t even above average would be a disgrace. Look back at the countries that held the Cup-1950 (Brazil), 1978 (Argentina), and 1990 (Italy), some of the best teams in the world. It would make sense to have South Africa join the list.

* Awesome stadiums-South Africa constructed four brand new stadiums just for the 2010  FIFA World Cup. There’s a jungle-inspired stadium with zebra like stripes, another with mind-blowing lighting, one with a detractable glass roof and yet another that was constructed to look like the South African flag. What more could you ask for?

* Great Weather- wildlife aside, South Africa is renowned for it’s weather. The World Football Tournament will be held during South Africa’s winter season. South Africa’s winter temperature at midday is warmer than most countries daily summer temperature so no need to worry that your favorite players will get frozen. Lower temperatures have been proved to be better for athlete’s bodies so the average expected temperature of 20 degrees Celsius at 12pm noon will be great. With good weather, we can expect better performance..

* The continent alone- soccer is no doubt in every African’s heart and Africa is known to be the place where civilization begun. So what better place to have countries from the four corners of the earth meet? More so since South Africa has used soccer as a means of unity and force against apartheid in  the Mandela era. Holding the finals in Soweto, the center of South African soccer will make this even more than a sporting  one but more importantly a very historical one.

In my opinion, no controversy in the past four years can change the  fact that South Africa is the best place for  the 2010 FIFA World Cup and everyone should be proud that for the first time in  history, Africa is holidng a sporting event this big.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is awaited by the entire world. After a lot of discussion, bidding and finally votation, South Africa is the selected venue for the 2010 World cup. The Soccer wall calender for 2010 has a lot install with the initial battle between South Africa and Mexico.Many speculate that it would certainly be likely for the final world cup winners football game to have an African country involved but this is yet to be seen. For the many who might not be able to eyewitness the tournament, you might be interested to knowing what kind of stadiums the football stars will be doing their soccer tricks. Well South Africa really took to heart their being the 2010 hosts and over the years constructed five totally new stunning stadiums.Here’s a peek for all you ‘soccerholics’:

*Moses Mabhida Stadium- formally the Kings Park Soccer Stadium that is now a beautiful teflon-coated stadium with a glass fiber roof.Opened on November 2009.

o Capacity: 70,000 o Location: Durban o Design: constructed to resemble the South African Flag.Has an arche with a highest point being 347 ft signifies the unity that now exists from a once devided country. The roof produces a translucent glow when lit.
* Green Point Stadium- was demolished in 2007 and reconstructed for the FIFA World Cup in 2009.Scheduled to host six first-round matches, one second-round, one quarter-final and one semifinal match.

o Capacity:70,000 o Location: Cape Town o Design: located between the ocean and has the beautiful mountains as a backdrop. Also equiped with sound proof material. Has an amazing retractable glass roof weighing about 4,500 tons.

* Mbombela Stadium- derived from “Mbombela” which is the  siSwati word for  “many people together in a small space.” o Capacity: 40,000 o Location:Nelspruit o Design:  a very ‘wild’ looking stadium which gets inspiration from the many surrounding national parks. * Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium-scheduled to host five first round matches, one second round, one quarter final and the third place playoff. Name taken from the municipality name not the x-president Nelson Mandela.

o Capacity: 50 000 o Location:Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth o Design: resembles a ‘sunflower’ with the roof made up a series of white petals.Is overlooking the North End Lake making it a one in a million stadium.

* Soccer City Stadium- The largest stadium in Africa. Will hold the first and last matches of the Cup.

o Capacity:94,500 o Location: Johannesburg o Design:gets its design from an African Pot or calabash.

With all these stadiums, this year is surely to be a Cup to remember. Doesn’t it just makes you want to book the next flight straight to the heart of Africa?