2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, the premier international football tournament.

It is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa
Five new stadiums have been built for the tournament, and five of the existing venues are to be upgraded.
In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa is also planning to improve its current public transport infrastructure within the various cities.

The country is also going to implement special measures to ensure the safety and security of local and international tourists attending the matches in accordance with standard FIFA requirements including a temporary restriction of flight operation in the airspace surrounding the stadiums…

The readiness of this African nation to host one of the biggest events in a sports that is worshiped by millions has received positive response from FIFA. FIFA has rated the readiness of South Africa at eight on a scale of 10…

The readiness of South Africa and story’s

***Countries qualified for World Cup *** Country failed to qualify      ***Countries that did not enter World Cup     *** Country not a FIFA member

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Argentina
Ultima parada, la gloria
(Last stop: Glory)

Australia
Dare to Dream, Advance Australia

Brazil
Lotado! O Brasil inteiro esta aqui dentro!
(The whole of Brazil is in here!)

Cameroon
Les lions indomptables sont de retour
(The Indomitable Lions are back)

Chile
Roja la sangre de mi corazon, Chile campeon
(Red is the blood of my heart, Chile will be Champion)

Cote d’Ivoire
Elephants, battons nous pour la victoire!
(Elephants, let’s fight for victory!)

Denmark
Det eneste der kr?ves, er et dansk hold og en drom
(All you need is a Danish team and a dream)

England
Playing with Pride and Glory

France
Tous ensemble vers un nouveau reve bleu
(All together for a new dream in blue)

Germany
Auf dem Weg zum Cup!
(On the road to get the Cup!)

Ghana
The hope of Africa

Honduras
Un pais, una pasion, i5 estrellas en el corazon!
(One Country, One passion, 5 Stars in the heart)

Italy
Il nostro Azzurro nel cielo d’Africa
(Italian Azzurro on African sky)

Mexico
?Es tiempo de un nuevo campeon!
(It is time for a new champion!)

Netherlands
Let niet op de grote 5, maar pas op voor de oranje 11
(Don’t fear the big five, fear the Orange eleven)

New Zealand
Kickin’ it Kiwi style

Nigeria
Super Eagles super fan united we stand

Paraguay
El leon Guarani ruge en Sudafrica
(The Guarani lion roars in South Africa!)

Portugal
Um sonho, uma ambicao…Portugal campeao!
(One dream, one purpose… Portugal victorious!)

Serbia
Igramo srcem, vodimo osmehom!
(Play with the heart, lead with a smile!)

Slovakia
Rozbehnime to: Slovensko do toho!
(Shake the green field: Go Slovakia!)

Slovenia
Z enajstimi pogumnimi srci do konca
(With eleven brave hearts to the end)

South Africa
One nation, proudly united under one rainbow

Spain
Ilusion es mi camino, Victoria mi destino
(Hope is my road, victory my destiny)

Switzerland
Hopp Schwiiz! – “Hop Suisse!” – “Forza Svizzera!” – “C’mon Switzerland!”

Uruguay
El sol brilla sobre nosotros. iVamos Uruguay!
(The sun shines upon us. Go Uruguay!)

USA
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Victory!

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™

Match times are currently set to local time, please convert to your time zone.

Group A

Match	Date – Time	Venue			Results
1	11/06 16:00	Johannesburg – JSC		South Africa	Background	Mexico
2	11/06 20:30	Cape Town		Uruguay	Background	France
17	16/06 20:30	Tshwane/Pretoria		South Africa	Background	Uruguay
18	17/06 20:30	Polokwane		France	Background	Mexico
33	22/06 16:00	Rustenburg		Mexico	Background	Uruguay
34	22/06 16:00	Mangaung/Bloemfontein		France	Background	South Africa

Group B

Match	Date – Time	Venue			Results
3	12/06 16:00	Johannesburg – JEP		Argentina	Background	Nigeria
4	12/06 13:30	Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth		Korea Republic	Background	Greece
19	17/06 16:00	Mangaung/Bloemfontein		Greece	Background	Nigeria
20	17/06 13:30	Johannesburg – JSC		Argentina	Background	Korea Republic
35	22/06 20:30	Durban		Nigeria	Background	Korea Republic
36	22/06 20:30	Polokwane		Greece	Background	Argentina

Group C

Match	Date – Time	Venue			Results
5	12/06 20:30	Rustenburg		England	Background	USA
6	13/06 13:30	Polokwane		Algeria	Background	Slovenia
22	18/06 16:00	Johannesburg – JEP		Slovenia	Background	USA
23	18/06 20:30	Cape Town		England	Background	Algeria
37	23/06 16:00	Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth		Slovenia	Background	England
38	23/06 16:00	Tshwane/Pretoria		USA	Background	Algeria

Group D

Match	Date – Time	Venue			Results
7	13/06 20:30	Durban		Germany	Background	Australia
8	13/06 16:00	Tshwane/Pretoria		Serbia	Background	Ghana
21	18/06 13:30	Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth		Germany	Background	Serbia
24	19/06 16:00	Rustenburg		Ghana	Background	Australia
39	23/06 20:30	Johannesburg – JSC		Ghana	Background	Germany
40	23/06 20:30	Nelspruit		Australia	Background	Serbia

Group E

Match	Date – Time	Venue			Results
9	14/06 13:30	Johannesburg – JSC		Netherlands	Background	Denmark
10	14/06 16:00	Mangaung/Bloemfontein		Japan	Background	Cameroon
25	19/06 13:30	Durban		Netherlands	Background	Japan
26	19/06 20:30	Tshwane/Pretoria		Cameroon	Background	Denmark
43	24/06 20:30	Rustenburg		Denmark	Background	Japan
44	24/06 20:30	Cape Town		Cameroon	Background	Netherlands

Group F

Match	Date – Time	Venue			Results
11	14/06 20:30	Cape Town		Italy	Background	Paraguay
12	15/06 13:30	Rustenburg		New Zealand	Background	Slovakia
27	20/06 13:30	Mangaung/Bloemfontein		Slovakia	Background	Paraguay
28	20/06 16:00	Nelspruit		Italy	Background	New Zealand
41	24/06 16:00	Johannesburg – JEP		Slovakia	Background	Italy
42	24/06 16:00	Polokwane		Paraguay	Background	New Zealand

Group G

Match	Date – Time	Venue			Results
13	15/06 16:00	Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth		Côte d’Ivoire	Background	Portugal
14	15/06 20:30	Johannesburg – JEP		Brazil	Background	Korea DPR
29	20/06 20:30	Johannesburg – JSC		Brazil	Background	Côte d’Ivoire
30	21/06 13:30	Cape Town		Portugal	Background	Korea DPR
45	25/06 16:00	Durban		Portugal	Background	Brazil
46	25/06 16:00	Nelspruit		Korea DPR	Background	Côte d’Ivoire

Group H

Match	Date – Time	Venue			Results
15	16/06 13:30	Nelspruit		Honduras	Background	Chile
16	16/06 16:00	Durban		Spain	Background	Switzerland
31	21/06 16:00	Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth		Chile	Background	Switzerland
32	21/06 20:30	Johannesburg – JEP		Spain	Background	Honduras
47	25/06 20:30	Tshwane/Pretoria		Chile	Background	Spain
48	25/06 20:30	Mangaung/Bloemfontein		Switzerland	Background	Honduras

It is probably the most universal sport. Any kid anywhere in the world, from the dark heart of Africa to the frozen tundra of Iceland; from the arid wasteland of East Texas to the hardscrabble ghettos of South America, can dream of one day leading his country to glory by winning the World Cup.

That’s why on June 11, hundreds of millions of humans will gather in bars, barns, parks, taverns, caverns, caves and bunkers, some crossing great deserts just to find a radio so they can listen to the kickoff the World Cup 2010 against Mexico in Johannesburg.

It’s also why 204 teams played 848 matches and scored 2,337 goals for the right to become one of the chosen 32 nations who get a chance to be the champion of the world. It’s why the whole world will be holding its breath for a month this summer, erupting in cheers, moaning groans, and going quite mad, until a new champion is crowned.

Here’s how it works. It starts with eight groups of four teams. Each team plays three games. The top two teams in each group advance, the bottom two go home. Then it’s on to the Elimination Stage — Win: live to fight another day. Lose: instant extermination.

The American team will debut against England on June 12, 60 years after the Miracle on Grass. Long before video could zoom around the galaxy at the speed of sound, a proud group of undermanned American soccer players destroyed England, then the masters of the soccer universe. No one gave the uber-underdog Americans a shot against the pedigreed professionals. How little has changed. The USA team is a 66-1 longshot. But if Tim “T-Ho” Howard, Clint “Eastwood” Dempsey, and Landon “Manchild” Donovan are all healthy, they will give England a rude awakening, exactly as they did 60 years ago.

Watch for America to advance. In part because of the “luck of the draw.” Group G is the infamous Group of Death, Group C, of which the U.S. and England are a part, is the Group of Club Med. Algeria? Slovenia? Not exactly soccer superpowers. That is no accident. The powers that be, and all their money, desperately want America and England to: 1. play each other in their debuts, resulting in through-the-roof global ratings; 2. make it through to the next round.

In fact, there’s A LOT riding on the U.S. hosting the World Cup in the near future. Don’t be surprised to see self-confessed soccer fanatic President Barack Obama give some serious face time to South Africa this summer.

The other night, as I drifted into a peaceful sleep, I had the kind of dream only a true lunatic rabid fanatic can have. I dreamt T-Ho Howard stonewalled the galaxy all month, that Manchild Donovan won the Golden Boot for most goals, and that Eastwood Dempsey stared down the world with his Dirty Harry glare, and America beat mighty Brazil in the final.

American coach Bob Bradley and his kid lifted the trophy over their heads, dancing with their teammates while Americans everywhere united in mad ecstatic jubilation. And we finally regained some credibility with the world. What? It could happen.

Sterry’s Picks:

PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR:

ENGLAND

Wayne Rooney, a tenacious goal-scoring bulldog. He will score goals, but at some point he will explode like a hand grenade on a landmine.

ARGENTINA

Lionel “The Flea” Messi is pound-for-pound, the greatest player in the world. Yes, he does weigh 104 lbs. soaking wet, but still, the man is a maestro, a modern artist/dancer/madman.

SOUTH AFRICA

Matthew Booth is a hulking yet surprisingly skillful bald-shaved defender who looks shockingly like a huge Q-tip.

SOUTH KOREA

Park-Ji-Sung, Manchester United’s Energizer Bunny, is the hardest working soccer player in show business.

ITALY

Gianluigi Buffon is one mad handsome dashing cat between the posts. If he’s not the best goalkeeper in the world, he’s certainly on the short list. Buffon is no buffoon.

PORTUGAL

Cristiano Ronaldo is ridiculously, sickly talented, and so easy on the eyes it almost hurts to look at him. The downside: he’s a delicate genius, fragile as a hothouse flower.

Sterry’s World Cup Facts:

One in four people in the known universe will tune in.

It’s estimated there are 250 million registered soccer players in the world.

Uruguay’s Jose’Batista, one of the fiercest hard men in World Cup history, was once sent off 56 seconds into a match for nearly breaking a Scotsman in half.

Andres Escobar, a Colombian who scored against his own team, was shot 12 times in his home country, while onlookers yelled, “Goal!”

In Latin America, American players are regularly pelted with everything from batteries to baggies full of warm liquid waste.

Best Team Nickname: Cameroon, The Indomitable Lions.

Worst Haircut: Carles Puyot of Spain. “Tarzan” from Barcelona sports a ‘do that equal parts Conan the Barbarian, Prince Valiant, and trailer trash mullet.

Legendary African hardman Rigobert Song is not only the youngest player ever to be ejected from a World Cup, at the tender age of 17. He is also one of two players to be sent off at two different World Cups. You may have heard of the other: Zinadane Zidane. I’m rooting for Rigobert to break the record.

1 million condoms have recently been shipped to South Africa. Many of them will be used.

Soccer is the most popular participatory sport in the USA, numbering more players than all the other major sports combined.

Country that bought the most tickets to World Cup 2010: America.

Today 11.06.2010
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South Africa – Mexico 1 : 1

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France un Uruguay 0 : 0

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TODAY 12.06.2010
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Korea Republic – Greece 2 : 0

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Argentina – Nigeria 1:0

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England – USA 1:1

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TODAY 13.06.2010

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Slovenia – Algeria 1 : 0

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Ghana – Serbia 1 : 0

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Germany – Australia 4 : 0

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TODAY 14.06.2010

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Netherlands – Denmark 2:0

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Japan – Cameroon 1:0

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Italy – Paraguay 1:1

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New Zealand – Slovakia 1:1

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Côte d’Ivoire – Portugal 0:0

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Brazil – Korea DPR 2:1

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TODAY 16.06.2010
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Chile – Honduras 1:0

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Switzerland – Spаin 1:0

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Uruguay – South Africa 3:0

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TODAY 17.06.2010
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Argentina – Korea Republic 4:1

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Greece – Nigeria 2:1

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Mexico – France 2:0

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TODAY 18.06.2010
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Garmany – Serbia 0:1

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USA – Slovenia 2:2

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England – Algeria 0:0

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TODAY 19.06.2010
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Netherlands – Japan 1:0

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Australia – Ghana 1:1

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Denmark – Cameroon 2:1

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TODAY20.06.2010
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Paraguay – Slovakia 2:0

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Italy – New Zealand 1:1

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Brazil – Côte d’Ivoire 3:1

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TODAY21.06.2010
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Portugal – Korea DPR 7:0

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Chile – Switzerland 1:0

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Spain – Honduras 2:0

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TODAY 22.06.2010
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Uruguay – Mexico        1:0

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South Africa – France 2:1

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Argentina – Greece 2:0

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Nigeria – Korea Republic 2:2

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TODAY 23.06.2010
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England – Slovenia 1:0

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USA – Algeria 1:0

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Ghana – Germany 0:1

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Australia – SERBIA 2:1

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Today 24.06.2010
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Slovakia – Italy 3:2

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Paraguay – New Zealand 0:0

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Denmark – Japan 1:3

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Cameroon – Netherlands 1:2

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Today 25.06.2010
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Portugal – Brazil 0:0

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Korea DPR – Côte d’Ivoire 0:3

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Chile – Spain 1:2

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Switzerland – Honduras 0:0

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Fans photo to world Cup

The Round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup HERE