“The thing that overwhelms most is the level of professionalism of native Africans in knowing how to serve a bottle of wine properly,” said Philip Crawford, a designer of luxury homes from Noosa, Australia. From a story by The New York Times correspondent in Johannesburg on how the World Cup had changed the way “… they […]

Now that the criticisms of the vuvuzela have subsided and the sounds of the vuvuzela will soon take a break from the world stage too, we refer you to a fine post written by historian Laurent Dubois (references: Soccer Empire: The World Cup and the Future of France; Soccer Politics blog) and cultural theorist Achille Mbembe (see […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL3tRBZv7QA&w=500&h=307&rel=0] South African football fans (well, boosted by corporates) have brought the world the plastic vuvuzelas. There’s one other invention of local football that might catch on: Makarapas, the elaborately decorated construction hard hats that now come in national colors. There’s an interesting history about the origins of makarapas and the man who invented it, […]

[vodpod id=Video.3900482&w=450&h=370&fv=autoPlay%3Dfalse] The Daily Show with Jon Stewart sends “correspondent” John Oliver to Johannesburg to learn “… about the rich African culture at the World Cup.” Brilliant piece. It strikes the right balance between on the one hand, the disdain most fans feel about FIFA, and, on the other, the passion associated with the World […]

All five of the South American representatives in the 2010 World Cup have made it to the second round.  (Add to that the 2 North and Central American representatives–Mexico and the USA, and that makes for a very successful tournament thus far for the Americas). My money is still on either Brazil or Argentina to […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwBlDiObxWA&w=500&h=307&rel=0] BLK JKS representing at the official pre-World Cup concert in Soweto. Remember Tutu dancing in the stands? Mzabalazo. This is for Japan.  For organizing on the field, and shutting out the Danes  3-1. — Sean Jacobs

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYrSn3pL8Ws&w=500&h=307&rel=0] It’s hard to describe the vibe here. Yes, there’s the unreasonable expectations around the team (captured well by my man Tony Karon on Time magazine’s World Cup blog) and the vuvuzelas may be annoying. But yes you can feel it. It is the World Cup. And away from the big stadiums and the tourist […]

I went to ESPN’s website to check WC scores and was surprised to find two short videos on its soccer homepage commemorating the June 16, 1976 student uprising in Soweto. A day which is now recognized as “Youth Day,”  a national holiday. Check them out for yourself:

After watching Bafana Bafana’s close shave against Mexico on TV, my brother, David, and I went off to see France vs Uruguay at the new Cape Town Stadium. In short: imposing, massive structure.  We had really good seats. 8 rows back from the field on the halfway line. (We bought tickets made available after cancellations.) […]

While everybody back home in South Africa today celebrated Vuvuzela Day, the rest of us had to find something else with which to show our support for our local team – like a T-shirt, for example. So thankfully the UK sports chain Decathlon had shirts on sale for those football supporters who really believe that, […]

The South African fast food chicken chain Nando’s (which has of late also become very popular in Britain) has always been known for their good adverts. They usually manage to combine a quick-off-the-mark, topical sense of the news with a particularly South African brand of wit and irony. Take for instance their ads featuring Julius […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH-a_rDH9c8&w=500&h=307&rel=0] The football will be great, we’ll talk tactics and football history all month long, make silly predictions on who’ll win the cup, and the fans will have a good time (though most won’t be able to afford the tickets), but many South Africans know that the benefits from the World Cup to the average […]