REMEMBERING EVERYTHING GREAT ABOUT SA

RUGBY and cricket have been the primary focus of my sports writing over the past 30 years, so when the soccer World Cup came to South Africa in 2010, I got to experience it full-on as a fan.

I waited until 2pm yesterday, to write this column because it was at precisely 2pm on June 11, 10 years ago that the eyes of the global sporting world zoned in on South Africa for an opening ceremony that would last 40 minutes. I wasn’t among the crowd at Soccer City for the ceremony, or South Africa’s World Cup opener against Mexico, but I was very much in the moment in Cape Town’s city centre, where it seemed the rest of the world had gathered to watch day one of the biggest sporting event in the world.

I’ve been fortunate to be a contributor this month to Independent Media’s 25th anniversary celebration of Francois Pienaar’s 1995 World Cup-winning Springboks. It was the first and only time South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup.

I was at Newlands Cricket Ground in 2003 for the Proteas Cricket World Cup opener against the West Indies, as I had been at Newlands Rugby Ground on May 25, in 1995 when Pienaar’s Boks beat then world champions Australia.

There was glorious sunshine on both occasions and even on June, 11, 2010 there was glorious sunshine in the Cape of Storms, in contrast to the hectic rain and cold of yesterday. So much was different 10 years ago.

It remains an unforgettable experience to have been in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. The roar of South Africans could be heard from Soweto to Sea Point when Siphiwe Tshabalala blasted in his 54th-minute goal. The one-all fulltime result seemed almost secondary.

Bafana, despite sharing the spoils, were winners. South Africa was acclaimed across the globe as being a winner throughout the tournament.

All the pre-tournament negativity, mostly hyped by the overseas media, disappeared in a spectacular 40-minute opening ceremony. South Africa and her people had created sporting history, in being the first African country to host the World Cup. So many sceptics said it couldn’t be done. So many crassly-written reports, in the build-up to the tournament’s first game, were ignorant in their accusations and obvious in their prejudice.

South Africa was a Third World country and the World Cup was a First World event. The two could simply not dovetail into sporting perfection, said many an overseas observer. The prophets of doom were wrong and by the time Spain and Holland lined up for the final at Soccer City, these prophets of doom were nowhere to be found.

South Africa, as a host nation, had been First World. Her people and all those who visited from many countries were equally beautiful in how they embraced the event.

I was fortunate to attend the World Cup final. My good friend, Kevin Ferguson, aka the MoneyMan, got me a ticket and I was relieved that there was a winning goal scored in regulation time. It was bitterly cold the night of the final and while the occasion was magnificent the soccer was mediocre. Two sides played not to lose.

I can always say that “I was there” when Spain beat Holland, but when people ask me about the tournament, I also brag that I was on the streets of South Africa, dressed in Bafana gold, when Tshabalala scored against Mexico. I danced with people I would never see again. I screamed until I hardly had a voice and I felt proud to be an extension of Bafana.

A decade on, with the Covid19 lockdown nearing its 80th day, remembering June 11 was a timely reminder of everything that was great about South Africa that day, which gives me hope that there will be another day when I think of this country and I think of just how great it is to be here.

You see, we’ve done it before and we will do it again.

Keohane is an award-winning sports journalist and a regular contributor to Independent Media Sport