ZAKUMI'S DIARY: EPISODE TWO

“The waiting is over, the waiting is over, we’ve waited for 16 years, Africa has waited for 80 years, the waiting is over….”. Those were the words of Danny Jordan, (CEO of the Local Organising Committee of South Africa 2010) at yesterday’s FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 Musical Concert in Soweto/Johannesburg. Indeed the wait is over, first we were counting years, then we started counting months, we’ve counted days and now it’s only a few hours to the opening ceremony to the long awaited FIFA 2010 World Cup. I’m more than excited to be a part of this occasion and coupled with the fact that yesterday’s musical concert was a blast, ‘South Africa 2010’ has been given the best platform to kick off (pun intended).

Talking of the musical concert, yesterday’s show had an impressive array of musical icons and football legends from across the globe. I enjoyed every bit of it, from Hugh Masekela’s performance through to the Black Eyed Peas to Shakira’s performance, it was like a cocktail of different genre of music. The concert was just awesome. This statement may be overplayed but I tell you the truth, really Shakira’s ‘hips don’t lie’ wink wink. The other artistes were great too. I can’t really choose between any of the performances as each of them was equally as exciting as the previous one. The audience (or fans if you like) were great. K’Naan’s performance of ‘Waving Flag’ gave me goosebumps and I swear I almost cried. The feeling was overwhelming and once again I was proud to be an African. It’s a feeling that will stay with me until my dying day.

Curiously during that whole period of the concert, I could only think of Lucky Dube’s ‘Different colours, one people’, the flags on display and the people from various parts of the world reminded me so much of Lucky, it would have been great to have had him on the show but hey, he’s dead and gone. We celebrate his life though cos his memory still lives in our hearts. Another sad news is that Madiba's great grand-daughter Zenani Mandela was killed in a car accident after the concert and even though I don't want to sound like a "kill joy" I think it's right for me to pay tribute to her. She was only 13 on 9th June. May her soul rest in perfect peace. Admittedly, I’m getting emotional and a half but you can’t blame the poor leopard, can you? It comes with job, mascots are always close to the ‘action’ and they get to experience these emotional moments first hand. Yours truly Zakumi is no exception. This is like the greatest moment in my life besides after all this I’ll probably end up in a zoo or something close to that. Let me enjoy it whiles it lasts.

By the way, I hope you’ve already joined the 1 Goal Project, please if you haven’t then do that right now. ‘Education for all’ is the legacy we want to leave behind after the excitement of the World Cup is over. We’ll make sure that the over 72million who are out of school are educated or placed in schools before the year 2015. We believe that education beats poverty. It’s a laudable idea by FIFA and the various stakeholders so please let’s show ‘poverty’ the ‘red card’ through education.
Going back to the concert, I dare to say that this has been the best concert ever in the build up to any World Cup. I have this feeling in my heart that this World Cup is going to be the best World Cup ever. That’s a bold statement to make and aside the obvious, I’m going to give you a couple of reasons why I think so highly of this year’s World Cup.

First and foremost, judging by the previous events organised by FIFA and the LOC (e.g. the balloting, the Trophy tours, the concert, etc) we should have a wonderful opening ceremony (in just a few hours). The events leading to the Opening Ceremony have been successful and that gives me the confidence that the Opening Ceremony will be amazing. We all know of the rich culture of South Africans and Africans more generally. We should expect a breath taking display of South African traditions and dances. There’ll be plenty of drumming and dancing. Zakumi can assure you of that. Those of you who have seen ‘Africa Umoja’ by the South dance troupe have a fair idea of what I’m talking about. The opening ceremony is going to be electrifying, don’t miss it for nothing.

Another reason why I think this year’s tournament will be the ‘best I ever had’ is the fact that going into the tournament, there’s no such thing as an ‘underdog’, maybe a couple of teams are probably minnows, however a majority of the teams taking part in South Africa 2010 have the potential to shock the ‘big teams’. Global football has developed to such a level that we might be in for a lot of surprises. This year’s World Cup is going to be very competitive because all the past winners are present (first time since 1982). Also all the continents are being represented and the only country without a previous World Cup experience is Slovakia. Slovakia is the only first-timer, and that makes this World Cup the World Cup with the fewest number of debutants since 1950 when England took part for the first time. In every other edition there have been at least two FIFA World Cup first-timers. Hence you can clearly see that the level of competition at this World Cup is going to high.
I
t’s a known fact that every time the World Cup is hosted in a particular continent, a country from that continent wins it, except of course Sweden 1954 and Japan/Korea 2002 when Brazil won it on both occasions. Staging the World Cup on African soil is going to provide the African teams with the platform to announce their arrival as forces in World football. Further more an ‘African World Cup’ will provide European and South American teams (the dominant forces in World football) the perfect ‘neutral’ battle grounds to slug it out. The weather in South Africa at this time is just perfect for football. Its winter and the temperatures are just conducive for fast paced end to end football matches. The teams will find the weather near-perfect for football, not the usual hot weather that makes playing matches in Africa tiresome.

I’ve heard some players complain about the ball to be used at the World Cup. Some say it’s too fast and hence they can’t control the ball properly. The goalkeepers are also complaining that the ball swerves in flight and that makes it very difficult to judge the direction of the ball, left alone make a save. I understand their frustrations but really there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect ball’. The ‘Adidas Jabulani’ with all its faults is the best ball ever made for a World Cup. The designers of the ball say it’s the most consistent ball ever. It’s the first aerodynamically designed ball that means the ball movement through the air is not hindered by ‘external forces’. The ball is fast in flight, you see why the goalkeepers are complaining? I’m quite sure we’ll be seeing a couple of fantastic long range shots. Such goals are always a delight to watch especially in slow motion replays.

Speaking of which, fans that will be following the games behind their TV sets will experience a wonderful tournament. With the advancement in technology and TV production, quite a number of fans will be watching the matches in High Definition and 3-Dimensional modes. The HD and 3D services available have made changed the face of viewing football games. You get that ‘live at the stadium feeling’ especially with the 3-D. The viewer experience will definitely be enhanced at this World Cup, you can bet on that.

As the official mascot and the biggest fan of South Africa 2010, I one thing that really excites me about this year’s mundial is the theme songs. Take Shakira’s Waka Waka for example, it’s a rendition of an old ‘Southern Africa’ popular song. The song generates so much fun and excitement among the fans and as a mascot who’s bent on giving you the best World Cup experience ever, that’s exactly what I want to get from a World Cup theme song. K’Naan’s ‘Waving Flag’ is even better; almost every football fan is singing that song. They love it. Quite recently I heard another World Cup theme song by Akon and Keri Hilson ‘Oh Africa’ the video is just ‘muaah’ (kissing the tips of my paws, haha). Where in the World have you seen such a beautiful collection of songs for a sporting event, tell me, where? “Me love this World Cup, me truly do”

All the ingredients needed for a wonderful tournament are in place. My only prayer is that all the key players stay injury-free. Also the referees must do a good job, we don’t want to see good teams thrown out of the competition due of poor refereeing. Another issue is about security, the police should do well to protect the fans, players and officials at the World Cup. In deed there are some security concerns but the South African Defense Forces are on top of it. The World Cup will be a success, take that from me.

The weather is good, the fans are amazing, the players are ready and all we are waiting for is the Opening Ceremony. Today’s games will be really interesting as every one will be waiting with bated breath to see if the ‘Bafana Bafana’ can ride the ‘Mexican Wave’. My heart and my mind tell me that South Africa will pull this one off. That’s not to say the match will by any means be a walk over. The Mexicans are buoyed after their recent win against Italy in their last pre tournament friendly. They’ve got a perfect blend of youth and experience. The Bafana Bafana are on a 12-game unbeaten streak and that should give them the necessary impetus to win their opening group A match. The fans that will turn up at the 90,000 Soccer City Stadium in Jo’burg should be ready to be thrilled.

In the opening match of Germany 2006, six goals were scored when Germany defeated Costa Rica 4-2 in that entertaining curtain raiser. The record number of goals in a FIFA World Cup opening match happened in 1934 when Italy bombarded USA 7-1. I’m not expecting too many goals in today’s opening match but the game will be entertaining nonetheless. A defeat for South Africa is a distant thought since no nation has been defeated as hosts when they have played in the competition’s Opening Match. The odds are good. Watch out for Katlego Mphela, the goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune and of course Steven Pienaar.

Later in the day the French will come up against the Uruguayans. It’s a match involving two former winners of the World Cup. Uruguay won the very first one 1930 and France won the 1998 edition. Even though the French will most likely be the favourites I reckon the Uruguayans will put up a fight. It will be a close game. I can’t wait. I’ll be back on Monday with the third edition but between now and then, I’ll be following the other group games especially the USA-England game and the Ghana-Serbia matches. I have particular interest in those two games.

“The waiting is over, the waiting is over, we’ve waited for 16 years, Africa has waited for 80 years, the waiting is over……”. The vuvuzelas and the kuduzelas are announcing the cry of ‘war’. The ‘scramble for Africa’ is on, the battle lines have been drawn. Let the games begin!!!!

I better get going, I have an opening ceremony to catch.Where's my vuvuzela? There you are, come along my buddy. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to air them. I can’t promise I’ll reply all of them but I’ll definitely read them and get in touch with you in due time. Take care and bye for now.

Your mascot in-chief,

‘Siyabonga’ Zakumi.

“The mascot with an attitude”

BY JUDE ANIM