Fifa World Cup 2010: England Should Not Drop Emile Heskey

Andrew continues his African World Cup adventure in the host city of Port Elizabeth.

June 10

I spent last night at a traditional South African braai, or, as many of you would call it, a barbeque. Lots of beer, wine, and red meat—just the way they, and I, like it.

Today was a day for shopping and kitting out my vehicle. A South African flag now flies from my backseat window. I have covers on my wing mirrors, also in the colours of the flag, and for myself arm warmers, again in the national colours.

I just could not help myself.

It is now just 24 hours until the start of the tournament and the city is at fever pitch.

June 11

So it is finally here—six years of hard work by South Africa comes to a head today with the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Sadly, some terrible news this morning that Nelson Mandela’s 13-year-old great-granddaughter died last night in a car crash, shortly after the World Cup concert. My thoughts are with the Mandela family.

It is 11:00 am here in PE and I’m buzzing about my first WC experience today at the local official fan zone.

Up to 30,000 may squeeze into St Georges Park, the city’s famous cricket ground, to watch the opening ceremony and South Africa’s first game against Mexico on the biggest screen in South Africa.

Well, I can’t tell you much more than that for now so I’ll be back after France play Uruguay to tell you all about the fan zone shenanigans.

June 13

It turns out writing a blog, being on holiday, and attending the WC is quite time consuming, and I have been unable to write over the last 36 hours, but I’ll do my best to make up for it now.

Friday night at the fan zone in PE was a terrific experience.

Bafana Bafana vs. Mexico

I was in a private box with all I could drink for £13 and was firmly getting behind the hosts who scored what could quite possibly be the goal of the tournament.

Sadly, they couldn’t hold on and drew 1-1 but SA proved to the world they are capable of:

1. hosting this tournament

2. competing on the pitch

Both of which were doubted by many in the international media.

Thanks to the 15,000 South Africans who turned up at St Georges Park and helped create a hair-raising atmosphere, an experience I will never forget.

France vs. Uruguay

What can I say apart from "I told you so."

The French were poor in the 0-0 draw but it was arguably their hardest game of the group and it shouldn’t affect their chances of going through.

Not many saw it in the fan zone however, after the heavens opened following the SA match, causing most fans to head home for cover.

The last thing I did on Friday, apart from a few night caps, was to test the new transport system (bus service) in PE to get me back from the fan zone to the beachfront and it worked perfectly.

There were more buses than people at the temporary station, so getting around is certainly not going to be a problem.

South Korea vs. Greece

Yesterday, I realised a dream of attending a WC match when I attended the early kick-off at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium.

The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky, as Alan, Warren, and I wandered towards the impressive looking stadium.

Alan works in the area and has a car pass to get to work so we got parked real close and indeed afterwards were home within 15 minutes of the final whistle. Where else do you see that in world football?

The Koreans and Greeks were out in force for the match, which was unfortunately not a full house, but there was still a brilliant atmosphere.

Beer was on sale for R30, about the same price as a pint in Scotland, which upset my SA mates, but the WC is not here to please the locals. After all, they only paid R140 for the first round tickets (around £12) so FIFA has to recoup that somewhere.

As for the match, well, the South Koreans were terrific. They are fast, strong, and smart on the ball and looked a real force, but were they really that good or were Greece just flat?

Well, a bit of both, the Greeks were terrible and left me wondering how on earth they actually qualified.

They had no energy upfront and were a shambles at the back. Liverpool’s Sotirios Kyrgiakos was on the bench; it is puzzling to say the least.

England vs. USA

Well, if England think they can win this WC then I’m afraid they may well be deluded. Fabio Capello’s men simply had no ideas from midfield in the second half and as the game wore on it was the Americans who looked the better team.

The coach is already suffering for his decision not to take a recognized left midfielder to SA after James Milner and Shaun Wright-Philips failed to make the most of their time on the left-hand side.

England’s starting lineup was boring and predictable. How can you play no left winger when the right winger Lennon cannot even put a cross in? Where is the danger expected to come from?

Emile Heskey has also come in for some criticism since yesterday’s match, but I’d like to oppose such a viewpoint. The Aston Villa striker laid on the first goal and worked hard all game getting in good positions and causing USA trouble.

Where was Rooney? He was in midfield trying to make something happen.

It is the midfield for me, which needs reshuffled, not the strikers who got no service.         

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 [e-mail].

If you enjoy his work you can join his group at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=35412076250. He will writing on an almost daily basis for the duration of the 2010 World Cup from South Africa. Previous editions of the blog can be found on this Web site.