South Africa 2010

Nelson Mandela - 2010 South Africa South Africa was announced as the host of the 2010 Football World Cup on the 15th of March 2004 in Zurich, defeating bids by Egypt, Morocco and Libya, to become the first-ever African country to host the World Cup finals.

As the host of the 2010 Football World Cup, South Africa qualifies automatically for the event. However, the national team will still participate in World Cup qualifiers as part of its qualification campaign for the 2010 African Cup of Nations.

Mascot

Zakumi - 2010 South Africa The Mascot for the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa is Zakumi, a cartoon leopard with green hair holding a World Cup football. The character’s name was created by blending together South Africa’s ZA abbreviation with the Zulu word for ‘ten’.

The Vuvuzela

The plastic air horn popular amongst South African football supporters is known as a vuvuzela, a word derived from the Zulu expression for ‘loud noise’. Vuvuzela’s are going to be an integral part of the South African World Cup experience, raising a clamour that can easily drown out on-pitch communication between players.

FIFA was originally opposed to the use of vuvuzelas at World Cup stadiums, claiming these could be used to conceal weapons. However, the football bosses have since relented, and vuvuzelas are now one of the fastest-selling items in South African stores, as well as one of the biggest movers on Google Trends keyword tracking facility.

[[Football 2010 World Cup]]