Andrew McNair's World Cup Diary - Five days to go

Sunday, 06 June 2010 12:30

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Our man in South Africa will be bringing you a regular diary from the greatest show on earth - here he gives his latest installment five days before the action begins

By Andrew McNair

Day three in South Africa and it’s a scorcher so I’m sitting out in the sun at the family home writing my second 2010 World Cup Blog. I best remember the sun cream.

I’m not too worried though as I have my seven golden tickets and now I just have to wait another week with my first match on Saturday in Port Elizabeth between Greece and South Korea.

What a feeling to be handed the tickets, I felt like a million dollars, like one of the luckiest people on Earth and I suppose I am but I still wish I could fast forward to Friday.

I’m not the only one struggling with the wait as this country is world cup daft.

It’s not even lunch time and for the second day in a row, the unmistakable sound of the vuvuzela blasts in the distance. For those not in the picture a vuvuzela is the long plastic horn which has caused some controversy in the lead up to this tournament.

They make a lot of noise and some European countries and broadcasters had sought them to be banned from the stadiums as viewers at home were apparently complaining.

Well to be fair if FIFA wanted a quiet world cup they would have given it to Belgium. The horn stays and it will make this tournament.

It was even to be heard yesterday during the Wales v South Africa rugby test in Cardiff with more than one South African blowing the tell tale tune.

It is not just the vuvuzela which shows the spirit.

My dad has covers on his wing mirrors with the SA flag on them as do many others and many more have small flags fluttering from the tops of their cars. It really is a joy to see so many local people getting in on the spirit of the WC.

Fans from around the world are in for a treat here in South Africa as the country welcomes them with open arms (and cheap alcohol prices).

I went out last night to catch up with an old friend and visiting fans will be pleased to know that a round of three drinks averaged R40. That is less than £4 to my British friends who will not get prices like that on holiday in Spain.

And every Friday in South Africa people are allowed to wear football jersey’s to work as a way of helping build the spirit for the upcoming WC, with even the air stewardesses on my flights with SAA the other day wearing Bafana Bafana shirts.

The football

Bafana Bafana is the nickname for the host nation. They yesterday beat Denmark 1-0 and are looking more and more capable of giving Group A with Mexico, Uruguay and France a fair crack. I honestly believe it is the real group of death.

Other talking points from yesterday’s action include the hamstring injury of Holland’s Arjen Robben. The winger picked up his injury after scoring two goals in a 6-1 demolition of the once mighty Hungary but a Dutch side without the Bayern Munich star is a team far less likely of winning this tournament.

Personally, I do not think they have the defence to win the world cup anyway but it now seems unlikely that Robben, even if cleared to play, will be at his best in South Africa which is another huge loss to this competition.

Lastly, I’m going to finish today by talking about Honduras.

The Central American country was whipped 3-0 by Romania yesterday, a team which could not even qualify for the tournament and I believe the Hondurans are probably the worst team in the competition.

That said, they earned their right to be here in South Africa and I’m sure they will enjoy their three matches on the global stage and wish their players luck in hopefully causing an upset.

Honduras 1 Spain 0 sounds pretty upsetting to me.

Andrew McNair has written for broadcasting giants Setanta and Fox Sports as well as Scottish newspapers the Evening Times and Sunday Herald. If you have any questions about the 2010 World Cup or this blog you can contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . If you enjoy his work you can join his group at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=35412076250.
 

Related Article: Andrew McNair's World Cup Diary - Days one and two