Ready For Blastoff…Who Are You Cheering For?
Posted June 11, 2010 by james in World Cup Blog | 0 Comments
World Cup 2010 is ready to rock and roll, with the host nation South Africa facing off against Mexico. Later on Friday, Uruguay battles France. All the hype becomes reality with the first blow of the referee’s whistle.
So who are you going to cheer for?
If you are lucky enough to be from one of the thirty-two countries participating in the mix, there is no doubt where your passion lies.
But what about the rest of us?
You could start by cheering for your genealogical roots. We all came from somewhere. My ancestors were from Scotland and Italy. As the “Bonnie” Scots are not in South Africa, my logical choice would be to root for current World Cup holder, Italy.
I am very proud of my maternal Italian genes, and I was thrilled when they won the cup four years ago, but this year, I think another team will hoist the hardware on July 11th.
If your ancestors come from Europe, you have thirteen teams to choose from. If it is Central America, you have one team, South America, five teams, North America, two teams, (yes, Mexico is in North America) Africa, six teams, Oceana, (Australia & New Zealand) and Asia, three teams.
That narrows it down a bit, but what if you have always hated your neighbors?
Well, why not cheer for the host nation, South Africa, by default?
The South Africans have worked very hard to put on a good show. They have spent years and billions of dollars trying to make the next thirty days the most memorable in their country’s history.
Their team is called “Bafana Bafana,” which is Zulu for “the boys.” If you like your men tall and bald, six foot, six inch defender Matthew Booth is easy to pick out of the crowd. Another player to watch is goal scorer Katlego Mphela, who has scored six goals in the last five warm up games.
The South African fans will be very passionate, vocal and loud, blowing their ear-shattering “vuvuzelas,” a long plastic horn that will drive opposing fans nuts!
Bafana Bafana are in tough right from the first touch, facing an experienced, flashy Mexican team. The Mexicans are under a huge amount of pressure to perform well in Africa. With the hosts sitting at 165:1 odds to win it all, (Spain is still the favorite at 4:1) not so much is expected of them.
But they have a secret weapon.
They have people called “sangomas.” These are traditional Zulu diviners and healers, and they often concoct secret potions of herbs, plants, crocodile, and cobra parts, with fat of a lion. It is said that it makes the imbiber strong, and they can run stronger than their opponents.
Last month 300 sangomas blessed all ten stadiums that are being used in the tournament by singing, dancing, beating drums, burning herbs and sacrificing a bull.
No bull!
Regardless of that, it would be nice if they could inspire their nation and give their fans joy and hope, just as the national rugby team did by winning the 1995 World Cup, a feat which resulted in the movie “Invictus.”
So, pick a team, any team, then pick a player or two on that team, and sit back and watch the greatest show on earth unfold.
Four hotties to watch on Friday are:
South Africa: # 14 Matthew Booth, # 10 Steven Pienaar
Mexico: # 4 Rafael Marques Alvares, # 10 Guardado
France: # 1 Hugo Lloris, # 17 Thierry Henri
Uruguay: # 9 Luis Suarez # 10 Diego Floran
Predictions:
South Africa 2 Mexico 1 Uruguay 3 France 2
