As the plastic horns of the vuvuzelas finally fell silent on Monday morning, and the numerous vendors in each host city selling scarves and flags of the teams took the day off, it’s the first time in six years that there is no soccer to look forward to in South Africa. Since the announcement was made in 2004 that South Africa would host the 2010 World Cup, the excitement and anticipation for the games has been immense, but now that it’s over, it’s time to start looking beyond the tournament and into the future of South African soccer.

According to a New York Times interview with Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of the World Cup organizing committee, “South Africans are very proud of what the country has achieved and everyone in South Africa is walking tall.” He continues, “For years, many South Africans have been told that they are inferior, that they are not good enough. The nation has crossed a huge psychological barrier.”

The country has made significant progress since attaining the World Cup hosting honors. But the fact remains that the national team performed poorly by failing to make it past the first round. In order for soccer to succeed in the country, the national team needs to improve greatly. Around $80 million to $100 million from the World Cup will be given to the South African Football Association, but it’s still not clear exactly how the money will be used.

Surprisingly, the South African Premier League has the seventh-richest TV contract in the world. While the television rights don’t lie, the issue troubling South Africa is that the teams lack properly funded academies to develop the young talent coming through. On top of that, the league has a difficult time attracting players from other African nations. With the better leagues setup elsewhere on the continent, and the strong financial pull of Europe, the problem will only become worse unless the infrastructure in South African soccer improves.

One way the country looks to continue progress for the nation’s youth, and in turn its soccer development, is through the 1Goal campaign. This campaign is aimed at using soccer to ensure that education is available for everyone in the world. FIFA president Sepp Blatter and Queen Rania of Jordan established the campaign and hope it makes a lasting impact long after the World Cup ends.

The most important thing for South Africa to focus on is establishing and maintaining a winning national team. The seeds of growth are there and the funds are now available to invest in the youth development of the country. Jordaan tells the New York Times, “The way we can sustain national support is to get a winning team. It’s as simple as that and as difficult as that. Get a winning national team, and you will have national support. No one is going to celebrate defeat.”

Guest post by Kyle Simpson writes for Medical Billing and Coding Training where you can find more information about a career in medical billing and coding.

One thing you can be sure of when watching the World Cup is that you are witnessing the greatest players in the world. Some come into the World Cup already household names, while others look to turn the tournament into a showcase for their skills. No matter what the situation, the World Cup is a beautiful thing to watch as it highlights who makes it, and who doesn’t, when it comes to the world’s stage.

The World Cup 2010 has so far provided a fantastic opportunity for many of the great players of the world to excel, but a number of “big name” players failed to live up to the hype coming into the tournament. A great example would be Ronaldo, of Real Madrid and formerly of Manchester United. In the 2008-2009 season, Ronaldo was voted the world player of the year; having scored an extraordinary 42 goals for Manchester United and propelled them to an 18th league title. He is undoubtedly one of the world’s best players, and he started the World Cup as a heavy favorite to score a host of goals and help lead Portugal to new heights. Ronaldo walked away from the tournament after going out at the round of 16, scoring only one goal that was amongst seven scored by Portugal against hapless North Korea. He had very little impact on his team’s games, and was very disappointing overall.

Another star that didn’t shine was England forward Wayne Rooney. While he has lit up the English Premier League the last few seasons with Manchester United, he was touted to be one of, if not the best player at this year’s World Cup. Most of England placed the hope of their country’s success on the young striker’s shoulders, and the burden looked as if it weighed a thousand pounds every time he took to the field. He was a shadow of the player that plays every week for United as he failed to score any goals and had no real influence on any of England’s four dismal matches.

A few others who failed to shine at this tournament were Lionel Messi, Kaka, and Didier Drogba. That being said, the World Cup is not just a place for already established players to shine, but also for new players to make their mark. Diego Forlan has played an immense role in Uruguay getting to the semifinals. He is regarded as a great player, but no one expected him to do this well. The same goes for Holland’s Wesley Sneijder. Also a wonderful player, he has been the inspiration and leading scorer for the Dutch with four goals. It may not have been a tournament for the stars to shine, but it’s been a great pleasure watching new stars form in the galaxy of soccer.

Guest post by Leah Thompson a writer for Futon Covers for Less. Browse the internet’s largest selection of futon covers including leather futon covers at the lowest prices.

Guest post by Martin Longreen, a fitness buff and writer for the popular self defence website Hertao.

Soccer fans from around the world have arrived in South Africa in droves to witness the world’s greatest sporting event unfold first hand. Tourism has taken a major boost, and the country as a whole has enjoyed sharing its culture with the world. Despite the great attention being paid to this tiny African nation, and the wonderful tourism the tournament has brought to them, it’s important that they focus not only on the present, but also the future.

Roshene Singh, the chief marketing officer of South Africa tourism commented, “There will be new market opportunities after this tournament. With our track record of hosting major events, sports tourism is important to South Africa. We are not relaxing, we are continuing with our campaigns to convert awareness into visitors.” The country has been preparing for this World Cup for years, and they will not let the goodwill they’ve garnered go unused after the tournament ends.

You might even say that tourism in South Africa will be an even bigger draw, and a more feasible one, after the competition ends. While tourists may not go to watch something as big as the World Cup, the price gouging that many soccer fans have suffered may well get them to come when prices are more reasonable. For many fans that bought tickets to matches, they were unable to actually make the trip because the cost of flights and accommodations had skyrocketed during the weeks the tournament was being held.

A lot of this can be blamed on FIFA, as their ticket-plus-accommodation deals tacked on high surcharges forcing others to drive up their prices. Rooms that would normally go for $100 per night were suddenly charging twice that amount. Fans in surrounding countries and fans from faraway destinations simply could not afford such expenses. But this still leaves the opportunity open for these tourists to make the journey at a time when prices aren’t as high.

The World Cup has provided the perfect platform for tourism in South Africa to move forward, but it’s never as straightforward as it seems. Hotels were built in anticipation of a booming tournament and booming economy, both of which have fallen well below expectations. And although the infrastructure of the nation has been massively improved, the country may well be paying for the World Cup for a long time to come.

Guest post by Martin Longreen, a fitness buff and writer for the popular self defence website Hertao. You too can write for us, follow our guidelines to be considered.

THE fastest growing sector in the global travel and tourism industry will be showcased when Johannesburg holds the inaugural World Sport Destination Expo at the Sandton Convention Centre during FIFA World Cup™ 2010.

World Sport Destination Expo (WSDE), which takes place from July 5-9, is the world’s first exhibition and conference dedicated to showcasing the $600 billion a year sport tourism industry.

15,000 visitors are expected to attend the landmark five-day exhibition and conference programme as the sport tourism industry congregates in Johannesburg ahead of the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

Key buyers will include the sport tour operators responsible for bringing an anticipated 250,000 sport tourists and considerable investment to South Africa for the FIFA World Cup™.

“With the increasing profitability of mega sporting events, the exponential growth of participation vacations and the continued sportification of society, sport tourism is set to play a catalytic role in sparking global tourism recovery with many experts predicting that the next 10 years will be “the decade of sport tourism”,” says Sion Rapson of World Legacy Ltd who are also organising World Football House where WSDE will take place.

A hive of activity during the FIFA World Cup, World Football House at the Sandton Convention Centre will also host 32 national country pavilions, TV studios, public viewing areas and a number of associated lifestyle events including the World Fashion Month VIP lounge, the Nelson Mandela “Legacy” Gala Dinner, Africa Fashion Week, Africa Fashion Awards and World Travel Awards.

“While some traditional tourism trends are in decline, World Sport Destination Expo comes at a time when sport tourism continues to flourish and is set to grow exponentially in the next decade, contributing an astonishing 14% of overall travel and tourism receipts in the year ahead,” adds Sion Rapson.

Included in the WSDE programme is the inaugural International Sport Tourism Conference (to be held on 5th July), a ground-breaking conference which will feature a prestigious line-up of leading experts and decision makers in sporting events and sport tourism.

“The conference is in association with Sport Business, recognised as the market leader in sport tourism strategies and the launch of this flagship event is demonstration of the importance to which the industry is viewing WSDE,” says Sion Rapson.

Fully endorsed by the leading authorities in sport and travel, WSDE will present a momentous first opportunity for the key figures of the sport tourism industry to come together to source new contacts and markets, gain top level insights, to showcase their brand capabilities on a world stage and most importantly to conduct lucrative future business deals for 2011 and beyond.

Testament to WSDE’s global importance, World Sport Destination Expo has secured confirmation from the leading buyers of sport tourism products from every key geographical region in the world.

World Sport Destination Expo attendance is strictly by VIP invitation and only qualified industry buyers, sporting bodies and leading suppliers will be permitted to attend the business to business days on 5-7 July 2010. Invitation on 8-9 July 2010 will be extended to the wider sport tourism industry and pre-selected AB consumers.

In another unprecedented move, WSDE has direct engagement with approx. 10,500 international media through its partnership with the International Sport Press Association (AIPS) and other key media partners.

“Participation in World Sport Destination Expo is critical to those companies involved in the sport tourism market-place, and those serious in assuming a market share of the industry’s fastest growing and most dynamic sector,” adds Sion Rapson.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup has kicked off in South Africa. During the month-long tournament, millions of fans around the world will follow the games.

To mark the event, FIFA.com, the world’s official football website, and Google have collaborated on a range of online features to help supporters keep track of how each team is doing throughout the tournament. Whether you’re searching for FIFA World Cup news or want to voice your opinion on a player’s performance, we have a number of ways for fans to stay on top of the action:

• Follow your team while browsing the Internet: stay up-to-date when you’re online with the FIFA.com Chrome extension. Get a live feed of FIFA World Cup results, news and match statistics and if you’re supporting a particular team, personalise the gadget for alerts of goals scored by your team as they happen
• See the latest scores and schedules in search results: search for [world cup], [world cup spain], [world cup group g] and more, and you’ll see live scores, latest results and match schedules at the top of your search results. You’ll find quick links to game recaps, live updates, standings and team profiles on FIFA.com
• Follow the tournament on your personalised home page: get all the latest information on FIFA World Cup teams, players and matches streamed to your very own home page with the iGoogle Gadget. If you want to know more about where all the action is happening, click on the ‘venues’ tab to take a closer look at the stadiums
• Get a feel for what it’s like to be there:  FIFA.com and South African Tourism have used Google Maps to add information about the host cities, stadiums and attractions, giving people easy access to these sights with Street View and 3D views : maps.google.com/exploresouthafrica

Matt Stone, Head of FIFA New Media, commented:

“In a landmark initiative, the world’s greatest football site, FIFA.com, has teamed up with one of the world’s leading search engines, Google, to give the global community of football enthusiasts unprecedented ease of access to the news and information they crave. From live feeds to in-depth data on matches, teams and venues, FIFA.com and Google provide every Internet user with a privileged, personalised experience of the World Cup.”

You can get access to all of these features from FIFA.com and Google by visiting google.com/worldcup

Ahead of the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the famous Soweto Towers near Orlando have been given a fresh look.

The cooling towers were originally painted in 2003 by FNB and the bank has again embarked on a process of ensuring that this landmark is ready to be viewed by the thousands of visitors that will flock to the City of Johannesburg in the coming weeks.

While one of the towers that was originally painted with a colourful mural has remained the same, FNB has captured the essence of football in the previously FNB branded tower.  Some of the visuals captured by the artists include makarapas, kuduzelas, soccer balls and football fans.

Interesting facts about the branding process:

• Wallscapes was the contractor hired to complete the artistic project.
• 10 South Africans were hired to paint the tower, 7 of them were all qualified artists and 3 assistants.
• 5 gondolas were able to move up and down and along a rigging at the top of the towers.
• Approximately 3 500 litres of paint was used
• Work on the tower commenced on 22nd February
• Time lost due to weather was 12 days in total
• Time lost to down time due to scaffolding problems was 11 days in total
• Time lost due to electricity problems was 6 days in total
• The actual time spent on painting the tower minus the down time was 60 days in total.

This year’s world cup in South Africa is predicted to beat all previous events in terms of the financial revenue generated. It has been estimated that advertising spending alone will exceed one million dollars.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research has forecast that over three billion dollars will be spent by fans in South Africa over the course of the tournament. Much of this will be spent on memorabilia, team kits and sports equipment. Even more will be spent on accommodation and transport as fans from around the world follow their teams to the South African venue.

Although it had been estimated that South Africa would attract as many as 450,000 international visitors this estimate has since been revised to around 300,000. But this will still mean a much needed boom for the South African Economy. The June and July event will be the single biggest sporting and tourism event in the whole of Africa.

But South Africa’s entrepreneurs aren’t likely to find it easy to make money from the event. FIFA, who rely upon income from tournament sponsors and advertising, has set some very tight rules intended to protect their partners who include Coca Cola and McDonalds. This means very few opportunities for local businesses.

Some have suggested that the real financial benefit that the World Cup will bring to South Africa will not be seen until after the tournament. Over twenty stadiums have been readied for the event and these will likely be used for a variety of functions including sports, music and arts.

It is estimated that around 9.6 million tourists visited South Africa during 2009 and in 2010 this figure is set to exceed 10 million, largely due to the World Cup.

OK so you are one of the unlucky ones, much like myself who can’t make it to see the world cup this time around!  However why not make things easier for yourself by downloading some useful programmes to help you plan your time at home around the World Cup matches!

Do you use Microsoft Outlook at work or home?  Then you may be interested to know that you don’t actually have to programme in all of your teams dates manually.  There is a “Plugin” made especially for Outlook’s Calendar that can be downloaded, and has all of the fixtures you would need:

http://www.shine2010.co.za/Community/blogs/sainfo/archive/2010/01/07/2010-world-cup-outlook-calendar-plug-in.aspx

Personally I thought that was one of the best pieces of programming ever, but then again I am very World Cup obsessed.  There is more though, and next up is the iPhone App (Sorry if you don’t have an iPhone…  You need to get one!), officially created by ESPN.  Basically built to supply Exclusive Coverage, and catch up shows with News and events that have happened in the World Cup, available for all those that are interested.  Just so that you know, Ericsson and Fifa have just signed a deal to create another World Cup App, which is rumoured to be better (Not sure).  Anyway, here is the current iPhone App, supplied by ESPN:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=342370555&mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D6

This next one is for all your Word Press Bloggers out there!  This is a Plugin that allows you to place videos on your Blog from the World Cup, being updated automatically!  Something that all of your readers may be interested in:

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/fifa-world-cup-2010-videos/

That’s all that I can provide you with at the moment, but I hope that this helps each and everyone one of you in your quest for planning the entire month of the World Cup!

Guest Post By:
Marcus travels around the world and works with a Safari holidays Tour Operator, the World Cup and anything Soccer oriented, is another passion of his.

The World Cup is the most prestigious sporting event in the world. Occurring only every four years adds even more anticipation and excitement to a tournament teaming with intrigue, beauty, and elation from football fans around the world. Even the most uninterested or casual football viewers tune in to the World Cup. As the newest installment of the tournament arrives shortly in the form of World Cup 2010 South Africa, will it bring with it all the thrill and pomp and circumstance that its predecessors have? Many in the footballing universe believe there is cause for concern for its upcoming global competition.

Since 1930, 18 World Cups have been played throughout the world. Until now, the World Cup was hosted primarily in South America, Europe, North America, and most recently in Asia. The World Cup 2010 will denote a special occasion in the tournament’s illustrious 80 year history, as it will be hosted by an African nation for the first time.  While this was a bold and respectable choice by FIFA, as they have witnessed the tremendous growth of the sport on the continent over recent years, it has since been seen as problematic both logistically and economically.

After making the decision to hand the reigns of hosting to South Africa, mainly because FIFA believed it to be the country that could best develop the vast infrastructure needed to handle the tournament, concerns were immediately raised. Unlike recent host Germany, which already had many World Cup regulation stadia at its disposal, as well as ample accommodation and various public transportation options surrounding all the host cities, South Africa became a construction site after the announcement was made.  Building stadiums, new roads, hotels, and transportation to, from, and around each city is a big ask of any country. While the South African government assured FIFA they would have everything required for the tournament, many pointed out an even bigger problem throughout the country; crime.

According to Homeland Security Newswire, “South Africa leads the world in all manners of crime per capita. Just one example: murders. Between April 2008 and March 2009, the last period for which confirmed figures are available, there were 18,148 murders in South Africa, a country of 49,000,000 people. During the same period, the United States, with 307,000,000 people, had 16,204 murders.” These are staggering statistics for a country that was initially planning to welcome 2.5 million visitors. These figures were always seen as wildly optimistic, and with less than 60 days before the finals commence, FIFA expects fewer than 450,000 foreign fans will travel to South Africa for the games. The UK, normally one of the biggest traveling contingencies, have bought only 67,654 tickets, less than the number of fans that typically attend a Manchester United home game.

Rampant crime and violence, coupled with the distance needed to travel for many foreign fans has deterred a large portion of the normal world cup attendees from going.  Great distance from the Americas and Europe means higher costs for travel, and in difficult economic times around the world, this has become an even greater factor then when the announcement was first made. FIFA and South Africa have jointly swept pundit and fan concerns about safety and cost under the rug in order to go ahead with their grand plan of Africa hosting its first World Cup. What seemed like a forward movement in football’s history may turn out to be a major catastrophe as games could be played in half empty stadiums.

The French Football Federation has confirmed that France will make Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa in Knysna its base camp for the 2010 Football World Cup.

France, which was drawn in Group A to play South Africa, Mexico and Uruguay, will arrive at Pezula in early June.

Les Bleus, who won the competition on home soil in 1998, appear to be the favourites in their group. They will play Uruguay in Cape Town on 11 June, Mexico in Polokwane on 17 June and South Africa in Bloemfontein on 22 June.

Keith Stewart, Pezula Chairman, said that he is delighted that after months of negotiations and visits from the Federation and FIFA, and following the World Cup draw in Cape Town, Pezula is set to become the home of the French team next year.

Read rest of the report on our sister blog Travelwires.com