In just 24 hours, South Africa will become the continent’s first country to stage the world’s most watched sports event and the hosts are growing increasingly confident about winning on the pitch as well.
The curtain rises on Friday on the first World Cup staged by Africa with Group A rivals South Africa, Mexico, France and Uruguay in action on the opening day of the month-long tournament.
Bafana Bafana (The Boys) face Mexico at the 90,000-seat Soccer City stadium in Soweto while France and Uruguay clash later at Cape Town Stadium in the other Group A fixture.
Spectators, who will watch an opening ceremony two hours before the 1400GMT kick-off, would not complain if they get a repeat of the 2006 opener goal feast that ended with a 4-2 victory for Germany over Costa Rica.
Germany, given little hope then despite an impressive World Cup pedigree, went on to finish third behind Italy and France, but that seems an unrealistic target for Bafana.
While President Jacob Zuma hopes to hand the trophy to Mokoena on July 11, many South Africans believe surviving the first round would be a wonderful achievement and a quarter-finals place miraculous.
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