The World Cup in South Africa

It is time.

Yes it is.

Oh the excitement.

Game on.

Game bloody on!

Here we are, at last, the World Cup kicks off today and we are in for a real treat if the opening concert are anything to go by, which featured my favourite band the BLK JKS in full effect...



And a top notch performance from the human shaped legend that is Desmond Tutu...



My appetite is well and truly wetted and although work commitments are going to make consistent World Cup viewing very hard indeed, I have no doubt it will be a great tournament, with all my money, of course, on England.

COME ON ENGLAND!

There are of course some feelings of anxiety and not just about Ledley King's knees and John Terry's pace. I have already blogged on the crucial and unique role that football plays in South Africa and my serious concerns on how the Western media foolishly portrays and disfigures South Africa, through it's myopic, racist lens, best highlighted with the death of a fat racist.

I love South Africa a great deal and I hope, with all my heart, that this World Cup passes smoothly and successfully for this great nation and that a fine nation and continent are shown in the best possible light that they fully deserve.

Of course, many thought South Africa would never make it, many thought giving the World Cup for the first time to the Africa continent was foolish, they have all been proven wrong, their nay-saying voices have fallen silent.

So now, South Africa is in a prime position to challenge all of those awful Western assumptions about the continent it is representing. It is Africa's largest economy, the world's 24th biggest and sole African representative in the G20, as well as a UN Security Council member. It's robust economy has weathered the tough global conditions very well indeed. It is a sophisticated, open and democratic country; with one of the world's most progressive constitutions.

Africa's leading must now lead and I can't bloody wait.