2010 World Cup final preview: And the winner is... ubuntu

Today we should be talking football. It’s the World Cup final on Sunday, a billion people will be watching Soccer City and Holland or Spain will become the first new winners since France in 1998.

But suddenly, as this vibrant tournament draws to a close, I feel the need to talk ubuntu.

There are a lot of translations of this curious African word. The closest I can get appeared in the South African newspaper the Daily Dispatch this week. It says ubuntu is “the acceptance of others as parts of the sum total of each of us”. Some might just call it mutual respect. Others see it as a kind of warm, all-embracing African love story.

My dad, born in Portsmouth in 1933 but a resident of Pretoria since 1970, says ubuntu is: “Treating everyone like you’re all one big family.”

And that’s what we’ve had here isn’t it? From the opening concert at Soweto’s Super Stadium to that moment the World Cup turns orange or red on Sunday night. At outpouring of African affection.

Don’t confuse that with the massive support for Bafana Bafana early in this tournament. Or the outpouring of grief when fellow Africans Ghana were cruelly put out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage. It may have something to do with the incredible lack of animosity between fans here, the lack of real problems in a nation still growing.

Ubuntu is that feeling you get when you’re lost in South Africa expecting trouble from the group of lads up ahead... only to find gleaming smiles and offers of help.

Ubuntu is when you’re standing in a lengthy cue for the park-and-ride at Polokwane, and everybody wants to talk about Wayne Rooney rather than whinge about the delay.

Ubuntu is when you’re in Sandton trying to pay for parking, and the dodgy looking fellow in overalls comes over and uses his change to get you out.

Ubuntu is when you cower as a local comes rushing towards you in the dark outside Soccer City... and hugs you in sympathy because you’re wearing the Three Lions.

Ubuntu is when dozens gather round to help you blow your vuvuzela properly, and at the right time.

Ubuntu occurred even before the big kick-off on June 11 when, before the tournament began, Pretoria’s Blue Bulls were forced to play their Super 15 rugby final in Soweto because Loftus Versfeld had been booked by FIFA. Ubuntu reigned supreme for a fortnight among folk who have barely heard the term.

And when Adrian van der Bijl, a the prominent local businessman who owns Irene Lodge, the home of the USA in this tournament, left his mobile phone in a shebeen and thought it was lost, ubuntu ran through him when his wife’s cell rang. The shebeen workers had found his phone.

Ubuntu is Africa, despite a thousand years of pain.

American Shari Cohen, the international development worker who very publicly came out against this costly World Cup before it began, ended up admitting: “To say that I have been blown away at the hospitality South Africa has shown the rest of the world would be an understatement.”

And on the subject of ubuntu, she said, in an open letter published on the Huffington Post website: “South Africans are drinking deeply from the cup of humanity that has been brought to their doorstep. I would never imagine that an American World Cup or Olympics would ever be this welcoming to the rest of the world. And that saddens me for the state of my home country, but it also makes me feel the pride of the South African people.

“I will be leaving a little piece of myself here in South Africa. I just hope I have learned enough to bring back a little piece of ubuntu to my homeland ...

“When I think of ubuntu and my recent experiences here, I think America has much to learn from Africa in general, in terms of living as a larger village; and as human beings who are all interconnected with each other, each of us having an effect on our brothers and sisters.”

A total over nearly 30 billion people have watched this World Cup. Did they feel ubuntu across the airwaves? What happened to all those predictions about crime and bloodbaths? Was that ubuntu at work?

Ultimately, though I love Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben and long for Robin van Persie to score, I don’t care that much about Holland winning. Given Paul the Octopus and his muscle-bound support for Spain, perhaps this whole World Cup was never really about who triumphs on the football field.

It matters not. There has been only one winner. Africa. Ubuntu.

Flushed with success: Maradona prepares for World Cup hot seat

CONTROVERSIAL Argentina coach Diego Maradona will be flushed with success whatever happens at the World Cup in South Africa next month – after having new toilets worth R14,000 (£1,400) installed at Pretoria’s High Performance Centre.

Maradona’s team have also demanded six PlayStations, 10 hot dishes a day, three choices of pudding and a constant supply of ice cream.

Argentina are not the only team making bizarre requests of the bemused South Africans. Brazil are demanding “lots of hot coffee, cookies... but no chocolate” and a swimming pool heated to “exactly 32 degrees”. According to the Johannesburg Sunday Times, the Italians “will be bringing their own pasta”, New Zealand have called for “golf lessons for all players” while Slovakia are after “two table tennis tables and an electronic dartboard.”

Mexico, headed for a luxury venue south of Johannesburg, will bring their own priest to conduct church services in a chapel at the Thaba Ya Batswana lodge.

But as always, Maradona’s bizarre tastes are grabbing the headlines.

The bathroom facilities were good enough for England’s cricket performance squads over Christmas but Maradona demanded “E-Bidet luxury toilets” as he prepares to take the hot-seat after his side struggled to qualify for the tournament.

Maradona has had two rooms knocked together to cater for his “high standards” – sports teams generally pay R3,000-per-night for a room at the HPC.

Maradona’s specialist loos offer a heated seat, a warm air blow-dryer and front and rear bidet “wands”. Available on www.sandman.com, they are described as “the best toilet seats in the world.”

Felix Aguinaga, sent over a fortnight ago to assure all goes smoothly for Argentina said: “We made a special request about the toilet facilities. Otherwise everything is in place.”

The High Performance Centre in the centre of Pretoria is known worldwide for having superb sports facilities at an altitude of nearly 5,000 feet. Nobody has complained about the toilets before.

Colin Stier, boss of the HPC, said: “Bidet toilets are quite hard to get hold of here but we managed to track down a seat which has bidet nozzles, but to make it fit we ended up having to replace the whole bathroom too.”

“Of course we were happy to do it. If it makes Diego more comfortable during his stay then it's worth the effort.”

Maradona and his controversial Argentina squad – which includes Inter Milan’s Champions League-winning hero Diego Milito and Barcelona’s FIFA Player of the Year Lionel Messi, arrive in South Africa on Friday. Brazil will be the first squad in place when they take up residence at the brand new Fairways Hotel in Rand Park on Thursday.

Altitude and Altidore The Threat To England In Jozyburg

IT’S the game primed to decide the whole tone of the World Cup. England versus the USA, Group C, at the Royal Bafokeng Soccer Palace near Rustenburg on June 12.

This remote venue – built by the local tribal king with his vast platinum profits - will play host to the two nations responsible for the highest foreign tickets sales in what has been, up to now, a difficult market.

England see it as a chance to reverse their worst ever World Cup result – the infamous 1-0 defeat at Belo Horizonte in 1950 – but Hull’s Jozy Altidore, as we shall hear later, reckons his lot are in for a crack at the final after their success at the Confederations Cup in South Africa last year.

It’s a good 90 minutes across the single-track Hartebeespoort Dam wall from Johannesburg (also known, ironically, as Jozy) and Pretoria, and it could be a damn wall by the time the fans bottle-neck it in early June. After the vast, scenic reservoir, the R4 to Rustenburg is a toll road, the alternative roads are pot-holed (but being repaired, I’m told) as you drive through 60 miles of platinum mines and shanty towns, punctuated by huge fruit farms.

This is the road to Sun City, the golf and gambling paradise. And it’s always been a risk. If the fans don’t turn up for this one, it will be a very poor start for Africa’s first World Cup.

Both sides –given their FIFA rankings - are expected to qualify from a group which also features Algeria (27) and Slovenia (29). England (8) are scheduled to return to the Palace – just four miles from their World Cup base at the Royal Marang Hotel - for their first knock-out game as Group C winners (their plans to stay near high-altitude Rustenburg have been in place for 18 months which is why I’ve always suggested the World Cup draw was fixed, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26B6civ-8qk, a video recorded after the draw on December 4). The USA (16), as runners-up, will head for Bloemfontein, which ain’t a holiday resort. No sir.

That’s why the Yanks won’t want to lose this one. They’ll want to see off England and play the Group D runners-up in Rustenburg, disturbing England’s carefully laid preparations. That would send England on the 500 mile journey to Bloemfontein, capital of the Orange Free State, traditionally the heart of Afrikaner country. And they don’t much like the English (don’t bother yourself, this grudge goes back to 1888 and a series of Bore Wars, sorry Boer Wars).

Talking of wars, Group D, of course, is a bit of a group of death. Kind of a gathering of gloom. It contains Germany (6), Australia (19), Serbia (15) and Ghana (31). My guess is Germany will win it, Ghana will finish second. And I know who I’d rather play, especially with Chelsea’s Michael Essien expressing doubts today over his knee before Africa’s greatest footballing month.

So who is perfectly placed to look ahead to this crunch game, the scene-setter for the two best-followed nations in South Africa on June 12? The Americans have several players operating in England – their star man Landon Donovan came over on loan with Everton, crocked our left-back Ashley Cole (accidentally of course) and went home to prepare.

But Altidore, the huge, lightning-quick Hull winger, will stay to the bitter end of the Premier League season, with compatriots Tim Howard (Everton), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Jonathan Spector (West Ham), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves) and club-mate Boaz Myhill.

Josmar Volmy Altidore, all muscle and pace, is still just 20 but he is a definite in a tricky squad selection for coach Bob Bradley.

Altidore, skating over the twin disasters of a car crash involving his mate and fellow US international Charlie Davies and the earthquake in his parents’ Haiti, says: “As we found out in the Confederations Cup in South Africa last year, anything can happen. Italy and Spain were there but we were beating Brazil 2-0 in the final.

“We had the win in the bag. That’s what we thought. But you can’t do that against a team of Brazil’s calibre and we lost 3-2. But it was a good lesson to learn.

“I think that all of us agree that we’re in a group which will allow us to play our football. We’ll be up against a world force in England and two quick teams in Slovenia and Algeria, and I think these opponents really suit our style of play.”

Nothing to be scared of then, for the lad from Livingstone, New Jersey? “We're never scared,” he grins, “We’re really looking forward to the England game. I think that we’re capable of beating anybody on our day and there’s no team in the world that can beat us easily.

“We’re up to the challenge and the English will realise that when we meet them. It'll be a tough match; no team can walk over us.

But Altidore admits: “I’ve been through a lot over the last two or three years that people don’t know about. I was trying to put the car accident behind me when the earthquake struck in Haiti. I’ve still got family there but you have to be strong and not let the sadness weigh you down.

“Even before all that I had family issues which stopped me from focusing completely on football. They affected my performances. Things are better now and I’ve vowed to myself that this will be the year I return to the very top, taking full advantage of the World Cup. I'll be getting back to doing what I love.”

Altidore insists playing for lowly relegation candidates Hull is no bad thing. He grins: “It’s very different to Villarreal and New York, where I played before.

“I knew moving to England wouldn’t be easy. I was aware I was joining a team where I wasn’t going to score lots of goals. It was a challenge and a decision that I’d really thought through. I don’t regret it at all.

“Things are different at Hull. We’re battling against relegation. That makes every goalscoring opportunity, every point and every win valuable.

“I was the first American to score in La Liga. Being the first American to score in a World Cup final would be unbelievable - but it’s very possible. Just look at the Confederations Cup.”

Kneesy does it for Benni, Pienaar gets drunk on success

SOUTH AFRICA'S already frail World Cup hopes took an alarming turn for the
worse today with the news that West Ham striker Benni McCarthy's
31-year-old knee is showing little sign of being ready for the big kick off against Mexico in
Johannesburg on June 11.
McCarthy, who completed his controversial £2.5m move from Blackburn days
before the January transfer window closed, is "seriously doubtful" for tonight's clash with Manchester United and has yet to complete a game for the Hammers since his £2.5m move from Blackburn.

McCarthy limped off during his debut at Burnley - he had a glorious chance saved off the line in
a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat on 10 February - and has been unavailable ever since.
My Upton Park source tells me: "Benni's not looking good. That knee is a
problem. South Arica may be in trouble if they think he's going to be their
major World Cup striker."
The injury is not believed to be related to the knee problem McCarthy
suffered for Rovers against Fulham in November 2007 or any of the long-running problems
which have ruled him out of so many internationals for South Africa in
recent years.
But Carlos Alberto Parreira is insisting he will only pick a fully-fit
McCarthy after his repeated spats with the Bafana Bafana (The Boys, The
Boys) management.
When McCarthy left Ewood Park after refusing to train during his final days
at Blackburn, former boss Sam Allarydyce insisted: "Benni's not getting any
younger. The legs are not quite as good but the talent is still there.
"When he came to Blackburn he scored 23 goals in his first year and hasn't
quite replicated that since."
McCarthy's problems add to Parreira's woes - his side moved up from 85th to
81st in the FIFA rankings after friendly wins over Zimbabwe and
Swaziland in Durban last month, but they remain the lowest ranked World Cup
hosts in history.
While their cricket team held the world's best Test nation
India to a drawn series and their rugby Springboks hold the World Cup,
the football side faces abject failure as they prepare for the biggest
sporting event in the Rainbow Nation's history.

This week's news of their late move of World Cup training camp from Esselen Park's School of Excellence to Sandown High School has left the hosts facing further ridicule.
Kevin Pienaar remains South Africa's real beacon of hope despite being charged with drink driving today. Perhaps understandably, he was pulled over by the police on Merseyside after starring in Everton's shock 3-1 win over champions Manchester Unitedc on Saturday.

A police spokesman said: ''Merseyside Police can confirm that a 27-year-old man has been charged with drink driving and failure to comply with a traffic sign.
''He was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning and charged later that day.
''Steven Pienaar from Woolton will appear at Liverpool City Magistrates Court on March 9, 2010.''

On a brighter note, Jamie Redknapp, the former Liverpool and England midfielder, said after Pienaar's display: "He won't be among the contenders for Footballer of the Year, but there haven't been too many more consistent players.

"He travels all over the pitch, left and right, wants the ball and makes things happen.

"He has good balance, can pass and dribble with both feet and scores goals. I'm not surprised other clubs are looking at him."

Oh, and I received this by email from my old University pal Rich this morning:

Media reports suggesting that the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace facilities will not be completed on time are untrue and false.

We are confident that the facilities are on track to meet all of the national team and FIFA’s obligations.

Rich Mkhondo

Chief Communications Officer

2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa