Mor Diouf on THAT 70-yard super-strike: "I knew it was in. I've done it before"

Wonder goal: Mor Diouf, second left, is mobbed by team-mates

MOR DIOUF was a bit of a footballing journeyman until about 17h18 on Sunday afternoon in the otherwise quiet South African township of Atteridgeville. Then he became world famous as “Diouf the Hoof”  in a single, astonishing moment.

Like David Beckham, who scored from his own half in the last century, Diouf chose the 87^th minute of the Tshwane Derby (that’s Pretoria to the Voortrekkers) to produce his miracle and beat big-spending rivals Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0.

The SuperSport United defender from Senegal via Maritzburg United can take it from here: “I looked up. I saw the goalkeeper off his line. And I hit it. I did. I knew it was in from the moment I kicked the ball.”

Now 25, Diouf recalls scoring something similar for AS Douanes in his homeland as an 18-year-old: “Yes, I’ve done it once before. Same thing. Goalkeeper was not in the right place. But that one might have been from slightly closer. But I remember I was in my own half.”

Opinions vary on distance. The Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium is officially 105 metres long. That’s just about 115 yards in old money. Beckham’s goal for Manchester United against Wimbledon was estimated at 61 yards, but he was far closer to the halfway line on a Selhurst Park pitch officially 110 yards long.

After Diouf’s effort went global, the Sun produced THIS list of long-range strikes, all scored from the other half http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4836084/Top-10-goals-from-inside-own-half-like-David-Beckham.html

But clearly Diouf’s was longer, at 70 yards – and more important. The Beckham goal was scored, over the despairing head of goalkeeper Neil Sullivan, on August 17, 1996. Becks was 22 at the time. The hype surrounding his goal saw him make his debut for England a few weeks later against Moldova.

It is unlikely Diouf will rise to become the richest player in the world on the back of his strike. But at the time, United were 2-0 up after goals from Eric Cantona and Denis Irwin in the opening game of the season.

Diouf’s goal came after 87 minutes in a tight Tshwane derby in a desperate battle for points between two under-achieving sides this season. After the goalless Soweto derby the day before, it looked for all the world like South Africa was in for a dismal blank weekend. But then came the fateful moment.

Diouf, a quiet French-speaker who has not spoken to anybody else in the media despite this week’s rise to global prominence, told me: “My coach Gavin Hunt just came up to me afterwards and said: “Well done”. He said he knew it was going in. He ran the whole way along the touchline with it. He was very please, I think.

“But I’m telling you, it’s no big surprise! In training I often try it. Yes, even at training. Me? I don’t know but always the goalkeepers are off their line when the ball is in the other half. I don’t think goalkeepers like me very much now!

“But me? I think every time, when I have the ball or even a free-kick: is there a chance. I will always try.”

When I asked Mor if he was aware of his new nickname “Diouf the Hoof”, he laughed: “What is hoof? It means kick? I know it. I know I can kick a long way!”

The opposing goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands, in the South Africa squad for the African Cup of Nations earlier this year, had as many answers as Sullivan did after the Beckham effort.

He grinned:  "I thought I had nothing to lose by stepping out a bit because we had possession and were in their own half, pressing. My positioning wasn’t wrong at all and I think it was a perfect goal."

"It was a perfect work of art with God’s hand in it.”

London 2012: what you can expect from tonight's Opening Ceremony

Breaking barriers: Roger Bannister

TONIGHT’S London 2012 Opening Ceremony gets underway at 9pm in Great Britain – 10pm in South Africa – with Danny Boyle’s lavish £27m production shrouded in secrecy.

Despite numerous rehearsals each witnessed by 60,000 people, the great event – and the identity of the torch-lighter – has been kept under wraps with those in the know proudly tweeting coded references with the hash-tag #keepthesurprise.

But utter secrecy cannot be ensured in the modern age of social networking when gossip crosses oceans faster than it used to cross the street. Especially when you have hundreds of nurses involved.

What we can say is that the ceremony will be packed with British cultural references which will completely bemuse those in South Africa and beyond.

There will be no jet-packed Ironman from Los Angeles 1984, nor the wall-running Superman from Beijing, the superheroes on show feature James Bond and Mary Poppins - though the visual effects from the superb South African 2010 World Cup opening will come in to play.

The production will start with Boyle, something of an anti-estblishment figure, dressing up the 65,000 capacity Stratford Stadium as England’s “green and pleasant land”. The grass and oak tree, plus traditional English rain clouds, are already in place. A 27-ton bell will get proceedings underway just hours after Big Ben five miles away bonged for ages to herald the games’ arrival.

We will see 12 horses, three cows, 70 sheep, three sheepdogs and a horse-drawn plough if the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals doesn’t get involved. Despite rumours from New Zealand, the wooly, four-legged types won’t actually be competing in the 30^th edition of the modern Olympiad.

The “green and pleasant bit” also features families having picnics, milkmaids and, ironically considering it's not an Olympic event, a village cricket game with players in caps and braces.

All this will please the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall not to mention another 120 world leaders including Michelle Obama, Americans' first lady.

We were expecting to see invasions from horn-helmeted Scandinavian Vikings and Romans as Boyle takes us rapidly through a pastiche of British history… culminating in the 17^th Century Industrial Revolution. All the while, expect to see pretty young things dancing around the traditional pagan maypole with ribbons.

At one end of the stadium we’ll see an oak tree on a hill representing the history Glastonbury Tor, at the other end, something from Last Night of the Proms with musical backing featuring The Jam’s Going Underground and Vangelis’s classic sporting anthem, Chariots of Fire.

The transition from medieval Shakespeare (some of the early bits are based on a passage called Isles of Wonder from The Tempest) to Frankensteinian dark Satanic mills will shake up the crowd as we hit modern times, the bit the Conservatives in the current UK coalition government are most worried about.

At this point, expect labouring weavers, miners, steel workers and engineers backed by Lionel Bart’s Food Glorious Food, the Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction, and the Sex Pistols’ Pretty Vacant. Yes, the Sex Pistols. Punk rock, remember that?

The final segment revolves around two young girls going “out on the town” for a traditional Saturday night together. An army of real nurses – who have been rehearsing in a “Guantanamo-style” facility in dodgy Dagenham down the road – will lead a celebration of Britain’s National Health Service.

Then the iconic British references hit us hard and fast. Paul McCartney will sing “Hey Jude”, the great Beatles hit from the 60s, then the equally ancient pop group Mud will blast out Tiger Feet.

Expect to hear Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the late Amy Winehouse’s Valerie. And then witness “about 40” Mary Poppins figures, using umbrellas for parachutes, drop in to take on Harry Potter’s evil enemy Voldemort. Daniel Craig, who will be in the stadium, has pre-recorded a James Bond sequence for the Olympics, though there are some who believe David Beckham will leap out of the Bond-style helicopter live in the stadium.

The torch-lighting itself – which I believe will be carried about by Sir Roger Bannister, the 83-year-old who first broke the four-minute barrier for the mile in 1957 – involves a complex “fuse” mechanism which will burn a path along the hoardings to the permanent flame, which will be housed on the rim of the stadium roof at Stratford for the duration of both the Olympics and Paralympics for the next month.

Bookmakers stopped taking bets on Bannister blazing his octogenarian trail, though Queen Elizabeth II, King David of Los Angeles, decathlete Daley Thompson and Britain’s most successful ever Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave are also hovering hopefully with those boxes of very long matches.

And then, finally, the athletes enter. Caster Semenya will carry the flag for South Africa and Maria Sharapova will lead Russia as the 205 nations and most of their 100,000 athletes are encouraged to move swiftly around the track by a high-tempo march by Underworld, who featured on Boyle’s Trainspotting soundtrack. They've been politely asked NOT to delay proceedings by over-use of smart phones. Greece will lead the nations in, then everyone will be in alphabetical order until the hosts, Great Britain, enter last.

And, apart from a couple of speeches from International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge and London 2012 chairman Seb Coe, will be that.

The real start of the Olympics, the winning of the first goal medal, will take place tomorrow on The Mall, where the men’s roadrace ends after 250km involving multiple climbs of Boxhill in Surrey. Among the favourites? Mark Cavendish of Great Britain and Darryl Impey of South Africa, both fresh from the Tour de France.

Let the Games begin!

Everton's Steven Pienaar Agrees Terms With Spurs As Chelsea Lurk... there's going to be a pair of Bafanas at White Hart Lane

The South African dream team is falling in to place at Tottenham Hotspur following the news that Steven Pienaar has “agreed in principle” to move to White Hart Lane from Everton.

With Inter Milan and Atletic Madrid also seeking the 28-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, Spurs are believed to have made a £70,000-a-week deal with “Schillo”, who didn’t appear for Everton in their 5-1 FA Cup third round romp at Notts County on Saturday.

His unexplained absence suggests the move to north London will be made during the January transfer window, with a bargain-basement fee of around £1.5m being offered, rather than waiting until the summer when Pienaar could move for free.

That would see experienced European campaigner Pienaar teaming up later this month with rookie Bongani Khumalo, 24, who completed his move to Spurs last week and commenced training on Friday.

The former Supersports United captain kicked his first ball in anger for his new club on Monday at Spurs Lodge in Chigwell. He played in a 4-2 friendly win over Crystal Palace 4-2 with fringe players Cameron Lancaster and Ryan Mason both scoring twice for the Spurs XI.

Yesterday’s Guardian in London suggested Everton boss David Moyes is keen to keep Pienaar for the rest of the season, but he could do with a January transfer move as he attempts to build funds to sign his number one priority... a goal-getter.

Pienaar was offered £60,000-a-week to stay at Everton but according to his agent Rob Moore, money is not the priority as the 28-year-old seeks a move to a “genuine Champions League club”. Moore texted me yesterday that reports of a “done deal” at Spurs may be “premature”.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has made no secret of his admiration for Pienaar and is known to be keen to team up his pair of Bafanas with memories of Mabilelo OJ Mabizela’s awkward White Hart Lane career five years ago clearly in mind.

The arrival of Pienaar could also pave the way for Spurs to cash in on man-of-the-moment Gareth Bale, who fills the same wide role as Pienaar. Italian giants Juventus have expressed an interest in Bale after his hat-trick against European champions Inter Milan at the San Siro earlier this season.

The Daily Mail contradicted the Guardian yesterday, suggesting Redknapp’s interest in Everton captain Phil Neville had annoyed officials at Goodison and that Chelsea are now favourites to pick up Pienaar on the cheap.

Everton boss David Moyes is quoted as saying: "I spoke with Harry Redknapp briefly before the transfer window opened. Daniel Levy (Spurs chairman) and Bill Kenwright (Everton owner) had an even briefer conversation at our recent game against Spurs and mutually agreed that this would go no further. At no time was any offer made – nor would one have been welcomed. Phil Neville is our captain and is an important part of the Everton set-up."

The Mail also suggests David Beckham, currently training at Spurs, could yet be allowed to play for the club, reducing the need for Pienaar. But in this morning’s Mail, Simon Jones reckons Spurs will pay £2m for the South African to ward off Chelsea’s interest.

Who the hell is Neal Collins (nealcol on Twitter)? Google the name or see www.nealcollins.co.uk.

David Pleat's Advice To Tottenham's Bongani Khumalo... and The Man Himself's First Impressions

David Pleat, the 65-year-old footballing icon responsible for taking Bongani Khumalo from Supersports United to Tottenham Hotspur this month, has a word of warning for South Africa’s latest export.

Pleat, who picked out Khumalo’s unruffled defending while working for the BBC during the World Cup and recommended a £1.5m move after a trial period at Spurs in August, said: “Bongani must not try and chase the elusive dream too quickly. He needs to be patient and to take his time settling in.”

With the fate of Spurs’ last South African Mabilelo OJ Mabizela clear in his mind, Pleat told BBC Radio Five Live: “The change in environment and culture is going to massive for him and it is so important that he embraces the club and fellow players fully.”

OJ famously scored on his debut for Spurs in 2004 when Pleat was involved as a caretaker manager at White Hart Lane - but 14 months and just seven games later, he returned home with addiction problems.

Pleat knows Khumalo, who arrived in London on his 24^th birthday last week, will be under pressure. Particularly as he will be training at Tottenham’s Chigwell training facility with a certain David Beckham, who passed a medical yesterday and remains keen to play while he is with Harry Redknapp’s squad.

Khumalo started training with the bevy of top coaches, including former Leeds legend Joe Jordan, Kevin Bond, Tim Sherwood and goal-getter Clive Allen, last Friday. His agent Glyn Binkin, who joined Khumalo on the flight to Heathrow, said his man is settling in well and is dealing with one of the coldest winter’s on record in Britain.

With William Gallas, Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong standing in his way, Khumalo may have similar problems. Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate are injured while Younes Kaboul is returning from a three match suspension, making a central-defensive platoon of seven since Khumalo’s arrival on the training ground.

The player himself said on the club’s official website: "All the players are very professional and very good, genuine guys and quality players. I've been very fortunate to just be a part of that and take in the experience so far.

"They've done so well this season and there are quality players all around. I just want to be part of the success.

"I want to win games here, I want to win titles - that's what the game's about. I've been fortunate to experience some success in my career back home lifting trophies and I would like to do the same here. The feeling is addictive.

"It's a higher level, it's not easy but I'm going to give it my best and contribute as best as I can to the team's success."

"I'm looking to learn as fast as I can and do all I can to contribute to this wonderful team.

Pleat, the former Spurs Director of Football famous for his on-field jig when Luton Town avoided relegation in 1983, advises only child Khumalo: “A lot will depend on finding the right kind of friends. He has to do the right things both on and off the field. As you know, there were one or two problems with OJ Mabizela. In the end were too much for us to cope with.

“Football will not take up all your time. In your spare time you must take up an interest, it’s very important

“Whether it’s spending time around London, going to the theatre or whatever, players need to make sure that their mind is motivated and that they’re not bored.”

Pleat has his regrets over the OJ saga. He remembers well the debut goal against Leicester and admits: “We like OJ. He was outstanding in the air. A very forceful play. I think in his case we could have done better for him.

“But we didn’t know enough about his background. If we had then perhaps we could have helped him more. He came over and did well but it was hard for him to get into the first team."

FA Move Quickly To Deny Beckham and Redknapp Are Line Up As England's Dream Team

The FA moved quickly yesterday to deny reports that they are lining up a “dream team” of Spurs boss Harry Redknapp and England’s most capped outfield player David Beckham to replace international manager Fabio Capello.

Yesterday’s Daily Mirror suggested the pair, who could be working together at White Hart Lane for the next two months if a loan agreement can be hammered out today, would take over from Italian Capello when his contract ends after Euro 2012. The FA are apparently keen to install a homegrown successor.

Beneath the screaming headline BOSS IT LIKE BECKHAM, the Mirror’s respected former Daily Mail correspondent Martin “Laptop” Lipton claimed: “FA chiefs have held informal discussions with the pair about taking over from Capello.

“Spurs boss Redknapp, 63, will be manager and Becks, 35, his assistant manager, with the long-term strategy that the soccer superstar will ultimately succeed Redknapp in the job.”

And he goes on to quote a “source involved in the negotiations” as saying: “This is not pie in the sky. This is absolutely real.”

But in a hurried statement after the Mirror front pages hit the streets in London, an FA spokesman insisted: “There are no such talks and we have not discussed any potential succession plan with anyone at this point.”

Beckham is available to Spurs until March but he has the right to buy an MLS franchise in the US – probably New York Cosmos for a knockdown £16m – if he fulfils his LA Galaxy contract which expires in November this year.

Speaking after the shock Wednesday night defeat at Everton, Redknapp admitted he is keen to seal the loan deal which will see Beckham team up with new South African signing Bongani Khumalo, who landed at Heathrow yesterday morning.

Redknapp said: “I will speak to the chairman Daniel Levy and see where we are at. It is definitely not done - one million percent not. I don’t know what has happened.

“I have left it to the chairman to deal with. I think we could do with David’s know-how, I think he has something to offer but it is out of my hands. I’ve said I’d like him but it is up to others now whether there is a deal to be done.”

If all goes smoothly, Beckham will be unveiled in front of the fans at Sunday’s FA Cup third round clash against Charlton at White Hart Lane with a potential debut against his former club Manchester United on January 16 a mouth-watering prospect.

Lalas Shoots Down The Loan Ranger: Beckham May Have To Stay on Holiday

Harry Redknapp’s loan ranger master-plan was in tatters last night after former LA Galaxy manager Alexi Lalas poured cold water on David Beckham’s chances of appearing in a Tottenham shirt later this month.

Lalas, in charge of Beckham’s MLS club from 2006-2008, said: "The reason David went on loan to Milan for the last two years was to prepare, in theory, for the World Cup.

"I think that was commendable and understandable to a certain extent - but now it is happening again I'm not sure."

Redknapp has been most vocal in his interest in taking Becks – England’s most capped outfield player – on loan, though Newcastle and Blackburn have also expressed an interest this week.

But Lalas told BBC Radio 5 live: "Soccer fans in the US say David Beckham has given a lot, but he's also taken a tremendous amount out of Major League Soccer."

Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy’s second most famous player, has already rejected the chance to go out on loan as he did so successfully with Everton before the World Cup. And American fans remain furious over the six-month Achilles tendon injury 35-year-old Beckham suffered playing on loan for AC Milan against Chievo in March.

That put him out of the World Cup and saw him appear only as a bit-part player in the regular season last year, playing just five games. The MLS’s best paid player was booed by Galaxy fans when he came back from his loan spell at the San Siro in 2009 and Lalas admits: "When Landon Donovan comes out and says he won’t go on loan this year, it certainly puts pressure on David."

Redknapp has toned down his need for Beckham, whose MLS season kicks-off on March 15, admitting: "Weeks fly by and this month will have come and gone before we know where we are. It's a difficult one. But let's wait and see, it's not in my hands.

"He'd be great to have around the place and I'm sure he's got a lot to offer as a player and a person. As a professional, he's top class."

Blackburn’s new owners – India’s chickens-to-chemicals Venky Group - have said their club are "open whenever David is ready to come". They have also confirmed a £6.2m bid for Brazilian Ronaldinho.

Beckham remains keen to gain some playing time in the Premier League to enhance his chances of adding to his record 115 England caps. Under pressure Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, in charge of Milan when Beckham was his loan ranger, said: “Beckham could be good support for Tottenham if he comes back. But we are not interested. In that position we have good players."

The Great World Cup Vote: England Surge Ahead As Russian Premier Stays Home

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's decision NOT to travel to Zurich tomorrow for the 2018 World Cup ballot has seen England rise to favourites in the bookmakers' rankings as the battle to host the greatest football show on earth hots up.

Shock waves travelled around the football-speaking globe yesterday when Putin accused the English of a 'dirty tricks campaign'. And with the ever-popular former Manchester United and Real Madrid starDavid Beckham delivering a composed argument on behalf of his nation, some experts detected a sea-change in the bidding process.

Putin, often highlighted as a former KGB spy in the British tabloids, told his parliament he wouldn’t be travelling to Switzerland to support the £6bn bid – which involves the construction of a record ten stadia across the biggest nation on earth - because of “unfair competition”.

Both the Sunday Times and the BBC Panorama investigative team have left FIFA reeling with allegations against five of their 24 executive committee members who will vote on the bids for 2018 and 2022 today. Two have been suspended since the allegations were published.

Suggestions of FIFA corruption are rife and England hope, with Prince William, Prime Minister David Cameron and former captain Beckham, their squeaky clean approach, already voted the “best technical bid”, will turn the vote around.

While few consider Russia a bastion of incorruptibility, Putin said: “I would like to note that recently we have watched with disappointment as an obvious campaign was being unleashed against members of the FIFA executive committee. They are being compromised and smeared in dirt.

“I consider it as part of unscrupulous bit of competition in preparations for the selection of the host-country for the World Cup.

“I would love to represent our entry in person. However, under these circumstances, I think it would be best not to go out of respect for the members of the FIFA executive committee, so that they could make their decision in peace and without any outside pressure.”

Putin’s surprise decision to stay away may well backfire on Russia’s extravagant bid. With questions over his nation’s organised crime levels, climate and transport infrastructure, England’s bid rocketed to the top of the betting leaderboard with Labrokes and other bookmakers despite the current big freeze in Britain.

Beckham, proving just as valuable here as he was in London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympics, produced a polished, convincing performance in front of the microphones, saying: “'I think that we can trust every one of these FIFA executive committee members. They are football people and they are going to want a World Cup in the best country that they think could host the biggest sporting event in the world.

“Everything has been positive so far. We have obviously listened to the feedback and the ideas we feel we need to be pushing in the next few days and we are working on it.”

England now claim they have six of the 23 votes, Spain and Portugal’s excellent bid has seven or eight, with Russia claiming the same number. The question is, who will get the two or three votes cast for rock-bottom Holland and Belgium, the outsiders, when they are eliminated in the first round of voting?

England’s cause may not be helped by today’s tabloid revelations in freezing England. The Daily Mail has revealed how the FIFA executive committee are housed in the £2,400 (R26,000)-a-night Baur Au Lac hotel in Zurich, where a bottle of wine can cost £8,000 (R90,000).

The 2022 bid, which will also be voted on tomorrow, is veering Australia’s way. Though Qatar has the money and influence, the Socceroos wheeled out actress Cate Blanchett, supermodel Elle McPherson, comedian Paul Hogan, cricketer Steve Waugh and a host of kangaroos yesterday in a bid to outshine the efforts of the USA, with Bill Clinton in attendance, troubled South Korea and rank outsiders Japan.

MacPherson, known as ‘The Body’, is being lined up as the Claudia Schiffer of the ballot. The German beauty certainly attracted votes when her nation won the bid for 2006.

Though MacPherson has never knowingly kicked a football, Aussie FA boss Ben Buckley said: “She’s a fantastic, iconic Australian who’s been very successful on the world stage. Football is the world game, so there’s no better way to express Australia’s personality than through a person like her.”

Though Russia and Qatar offer the cash and kudos FIFA president Sepp Blatter hankers after, England and Australia may be the sensible choices for fans and football. Time will tell.

England Have Landed, With All Eyes on "Coach" Beckham

WHEN it came it was exactly what we expected. A bit of an anti-climax. These brief words from Fabio Capello: “I’m very pleased to be here, my team is happy to finally be in South Africa.

"I hope this World Cup in South Africa is good for this country and of course for England. We now have to concentrate on the tournament and prepare well for the event."

Thank you, Generalissimo. And we’ll hear from you again tomorrow when you have been suitably impressed by the Bafokeng Royal Sports Campus about 70 miles away outside Phokeng, seven miles from Rustenburg (get the map out).

Strange to think John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and the like are travelling the N4, with platinum mines to their right, the magnificent Magaliesberg mountain range to their left. And the occasional jarring image of shacks to mar the view before they enter the rich Mafokeng kingdom.

Like it or not England’s stars represent the biggest arrival of the World Cup at Oliver Tambo International airport. Forget the Brazilians and Argentinians, this nation is pumped to overflowing with Sky News and live Premier League football.

One thing I did glean before my “unavoidable detention” by the South African Police in Potchestroom last night – they never did call back and show me their wonderful High Performance Centre - is that the Spanish are flying straight in to the local airport.

And interest peaked at the usual point. A bloke called David Beckham strolled through. The Achilles tendon the former England captain snapped three months ago means he’s coming as an “assistant coach” and an ambassador – but the ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder (and his wife Victoria) will always be the major talking point for foreign fans worldwide who pore over the British newspapers and websites. Imperialism is not dead, just roaming the information super highway.

Captain Rio Ferdinand pales by comparison. But there he was, lugging a bag, leading the household names cavalry towards Group C and the tricky opening clash against the United States at the Royal Bafokeng Palace Stadium on June 12. Yes, that’s the one two miles down the Boshoek Road from the perfect training camp they picked out over a year ago. Very strange. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26B6civ-8qk

Astonishingly lucky draw for England. Keeps the fans clear of the big cities, keeps things quiet for the Generalissimo, whose wife is apparently the only female allowed inside the abstemious England base.

After the USA they travel nearly a thousand miles to face Algeria, battered recently by Ireland, in Cape Town. Bafokeng offers warm, clear days and near-frost at night, not to mention the little matter of 5,000 feet of altitude. Cape Town in winter is nearly British with rain and gales. And it’s very definitely at sea level, same as the third qualifier against Slovenia at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth, the windy city.

It’s about now people start realising this is a nation of many climates (and Vuvuzelas). The Highveld (there was frost on the windscreen in Potchefstroom this morning), sub-tropical Durban (swim in the sea and get a winter tan) and Mediterranean Cape Town (whip the brolly out darling).

Which is why this World Cup could provide even more shocks than usual. The Americans have been based in Irene Lodge beneath the circling security helicopters for a couple of days already. It may give them a vital head-start.

But in South Africa, take nothing for granted. Even Algeria.

My visit to the England base at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAousno69rI

Soon England will find out how difficult it is to host a World Cup. It's a long time since 1966

You come all the way to sunny Durban to see the odd strike hit the net. Not a strike from Transnet. And suddenly you find yourself worrying about container ships instead of containing midfielders.

I can see 31 frustrated boats waiting for the strike by the dock workers to end from my window overlooking the Indian Ocean at the Umhlanga Sands hotel. One for each visiting World Cup nation.

Apparently the emergency generators demanded by FIFA for every ground are out there somewhere, rusting gently. And the imported fruits are getting over-ripe in the hold. Always thought that was a Cape Town thing, judging from my visit there with the England cricket team in January. Very fruity, the new Capetonians.

But I digress. The Transnet strike is just the latest World Cup scare story to hit the media. In the wee hours of Friday morning, I was on BBC Radio 5 in my hotel room being assailed with the normal pre-tournament questions. “Is the crime bad over there?” asked presenter Tony Livesey. No, I said, it’s largely paranoia. Just stick to the safe streets like you would in any city. I’ve walked around Johannesburg in a suit, and hardly been mugged at all (cue hysterical laughter). Then his studio guest, a lady called Jane, came up with another brilliant World Cup query: “How bad is the crime out there?” she asked, worried about her stay in Cape Town next month.

So I told her too. How my wife and I had walked, with a group of Barmy Army cricket fans, down Long Street in Cape Town on New Year’s night. Intimidating for Englishmen reared on lurid tales of darkest Africa, but the worst thing we had thrown at us were shouts of “Happy New Year!”

“Oh,” said Jane, “I’m staying in Long Street for the World Cup. That’s a relief.” Another happy customer.

And so it goes on. I spend so much time on nationally available Sky News, on Britain’s commercial sports station talkSPORT, in South Africa on 702, Cape Talk, KFM and Highveld, not to mention SABC Radio 2000, and in the newspapers in both countries (I've got a whole page in the Saturday Independent here today). And on the global Internet. Just Google me. My life is spent knocking down the ridiculous tales of World Cup woe, persuading Americans, Germans, Argentinians, and Slovenians to come and see for themselves.

Thousands of British fans have been over here for cricket and rugby tours, all satisfied customers. But somehow our football supporters—not the gentlest of folk—are heading for real trouble.

If you believed the red tops in England, you’d never leave your front room. “Bloodbath awaits football fans,” “Panga massacre threat to England supporters,” “Terrorist threat over England game,” “Wags warned to stay at home,” and the more imaginative “Earthquake threat to Rustenburg puts England on red alert.”

What they tend to forget of course is that London hosts an Olympics in 2012 in the notorious East End, where muggings and gang warfare are rife, and knife crime is up 42 percent. Every time a murder takes place there, I’m tempted to phone one of my South African sports editor pals and suggest a headline along the lines of: “London faces Olympic bloodbath” or “See London and die in 2012.”

And of course, on Friday, England’s 2018 World Cup bid slammed in to top gear with David Beckham, limping slightly, at the forefront. Do they know what they’re in for?

That ultra-smooth FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke will become a near-resident with his vast whispering entourage. And FIFA will take over large swathes of Britain. Innocent businessmen who work close to football stadia selling shirts and scarves will find themselves having to pay £2,500 to cash-rich FIFA to keep their stalls near the stadia—just as they have in South Africa—local mayors will have to sign over control of their cities—just as they have in South Africa—and every hotel, every ground, every transport system will have to meet FIFA’s specifications—just as they have in South Africa.

Then the English will have to face the prospect of being turned into FIFAland for months on end. Told what to do by autocratic football politicians who say they love the beautiful game, but appear to be more interested in profit.

It’s not easy. All they need is to find the head of Britain’s right wing supremacists, say Queen Elizabeth II’s hubby Phil, beaten to death with his trousers down. But I guess they’d just blame Julius Malema.

Poor bloke. All he does is shout his mouth off and everyone thinks he’s going to bring the nation to its knees. I can’t help feeling sorry for the guy. He’s head of the ANC Youth Brigade and he looks like that? No wonder he always seems so deeply disgusted with life.

All in all though, my latest trip to South Africa has been highly encouraging. Search YouTube for my footage from the Italian training camp at Leriba Lodge and the USA base at Irene, both in Centurion. I also got the camera out on my arrival at the spanking new King Shaka international airport.

Read http://www.nealcollins.co.uk for an assessment of the World Cup bases and my visits to the Soccer City, Loftus Versveld, Bafokeng Sports Palace, Green Point, and the magnificent Moses Mabhida Stadium. It’s all there, South Africa is ready. If I’ve said that once, I’ve said it a thousand times, though they’re still working on the final details along Durban’s Marine Parade, now quaintly renamed O Tambo Drive.

And with less than a month to go before the big kick-off on June 11, global opinion is starting to turn. South Africa really is going to host the continent’s first World Cup. What was it that former England legend John Barnes told me a few weeks ago? “South Africa is like the nation of my birth, Jamaica. A beautiful country with a bad reputation. They say in Jamaica you’ll get murdered and everyone’s on drugs. It’s just not right. I believe South Africa will host the most colourful, passionate World Cup ever seen.”

Thanks to “Digger” Barnes and your own great footballing diplomats like Lucas Radebe, Bob Skinstad, and Aaron Mokoena, the tide is turning. South Africa 2010 is ready to rumble rather than grumble. Late bookings are flooding in, according to the people I spoke to at the vast Indaba 2010 tourism conference in Durban this week.

Now all you have to do is find a cork for those bloody Vuvuzelas!

Why Becksout Day doesn't have to be the end of the world

THE football-speaking world will forever remember March 15 as Becksout Day. And this morning, the Achilles tendon expert Dr Sakari Orava, explains from the now-famous Mehilainen clinic in the Finnish town of Turku: "David Beckham will be able to walk with the help of crutches this afternoon. The operation was done, it went well but it will take many months for him to recover."

According to the counter on FIFA.com, the World Cup is now 86 days and a few hours away. Just not enough time for Becks, who has walked on water occasionally over the last 25 years, to recover in time for that record-breaking fourth World Cup tournament.

Instead, he must languish on three with the great Peter Shilton and the late Bobby Moore. And, barring miracles, he will also remain stuck on 115 England caps, ten short of Shilts.

Ironic that a Finnish bloke should announce Beckham's career is finished. There were screaming fans and paparazzi to go with the pre-op preparations in Helsinki yesterday, but then everything Beckham has done is accompanied by such scenes.

By now we've all seen the last on-field scenes from the San Siro on Sunday night. Milan are 1-0 up against Chieva, Becks goes to kick the ball, his left leg won't move. He hesitates, looking confused. Then tries again. Collapses. Shouts: "It's broken, it's broken."

Awful moments. But, and this is my point, far better it should end like that, four days after a standing ovation at Old Trafford, than he should struggle on at 34 trying to impress England boss Fabio Capello.

The Generalissimo is not a sentimental chap. He would have been hard-pressed to include Beckham in his 30-man squad on May 11. And with Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips, James Milner, Aaron Lennon and Joe Cole all clamouring for the wide-right berth, it would have been impossible to keep him in when the squad is reduced to 23 on June 1.

Everyone knew that after the friendly against Egypt a fortnight ago. Walcott went off for SWP and the game turned around while Becks sat gloomily on the bench. International career over. The very best he could have expected from his record-breaking fourth World Cup would have been the occasional shot of him sitting on the bench in that huge Kalabash of a stadium at Soccer City on July 11 while his young team-mates celebrate ending 44 years of stiff-upper lipped hurt.

But everyone was in denial yesterday, ignoring the evidence of the 3-1 friendly win over African champions Egypt. Sky News, Sky Sports News, the newspapers... even Adrian and Darren Gough at talkSPORT when I spoke to them. All insisted Becks would have been a glorious impact sub for England. An impact sub? At 34? Beckham doesn’t waltz past players like SWP. He doesn’t have the raw pace of Walcott, the engine of Milner. He’s a crosser, a deadball expert, a leader, a talisman.

For Beckham, it was always a starting place or not at all. And, secretly, Capello must be breathing a sigh of relief that he won’t have to make that awful decision on May 11 or June 1. Had he dropped Becks, the world would have savaged the Italian for his heartless axe.

Now we can remember Becks for what he was. The boy who scored from the halfway line against Wimbledon in 1996, who became a man in the aftermath of the red card against Argentina in 1998, who joined Real Madrid and helped them to the title in 2004, who led a new American revolution with LA Galaxy and faded from the scene with dignity on loan at Milan.

Today a “source close to the family” tells The Sun: “This is probably the lowest point he has ever encountered in his professional career. Words cannot express how devastated David is.

"Mentally this is disastrous. He thinks he's being punished for something he must have done wrong in life, which of course is ridiculous."

As wife Victoria turns up to comfort her man, the source adds: “David has been crying and is in deep shock.

"Football is his life and he feels like it has been unfairly taken away from him. He's just so low.”

Yes, he must be low. But in time he will realise fate has dealt him a hand which he can cope with, even thrive on. And as I said to the Sky News crew here at home in Chalfont St Giles on Sunday night, the perfect conclusion is this: Capello invites Beckham to join the squad on June 1. To add his expertise, his statesmanship to the mix.

I received twitters and Facebook messages from all over the world yesterday saying: “Beckham must be at the World Cup.” In South Africa, I told 702 radio listeners: “Don’t worry, David Beckham will be there. He will still be our figurehead.”

No, he won’t be there as a player, but he should go as football’s celebrity talisman. It would ease the pressure on Capello and the players, particularly Wayne Rooney, our spearhead.

On the field, Beckham’s departure was sadly inevitable. Off the field, he can remain a vital ingredient.

And we haven’t even talked about the 2018 World Cup yet, when he will be Capello’s right hand man as they attempted to make it a global hat-trick. We can dream, can’t we?

Now let’s move on. Jose Mourinho and InterMilan are at Chelsea tonight in the Champions League. Should be a special occasion.

Why David Beckham must go to the World Cup, even if he's crocked

DAVID BECKHAM must go to the World Cup. Sure, he won't go as a player after rupturing his achilles tendon late in Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo last night.

But if Fabio Capello is the man I think he is, the England coach will ask Beckham to travel with the England squad - hopefully he'll make his request by mobile phone just before Becks is whisked off for his operation in Finland today.

Beckham, pictured arriving at the hospital this afternoon, says he "hopes to make a full recovery" but surely his international career is over. But only as a player. What about his knowledge, his experience? Invaluable to this England side seeking to end 44 years of hurt, spearheaded by Wayne Rooney, who scored two more goals in a fabulous season for Manchester United against Fulham yesterday.Beckham is our talisman, our statesman.

According to the doctors (and we've had plenty of them on various television stations today) rehabilitation will take "five to eight months"... but the action kicks off in South Africa in 86 days. It was heart-rending to watch what might be his last moments as a professional footballer. Nobody was near him at the San Siro when he pulled up and collapsed to his knees, apparently yelling "it's broken, it's broken".

It's a sad end to a great career. A record-breaking career. It ended in tears and on crutches, grown men crying and kissing his cheeks as he left the San Siro last night.

He goes with 115 caps, just 10 short of Peter Shilton's mark, the most capped outfield player in history. Nobody else has scored in three successive World Cups. Nobody else has quite dominated the game like he has since that first high profile moment, the 1996 goal from the halfway line against Wimbledon.The thing is of course, his time had come. This injury presents Capello with a way out of a serious conundrum. I said last week Gary Neville and Sol Campbell, both 35, were more necessary than Beckham, 34, in the current set-up.

But to leave Beckham - aiming to become the first Englishman to play in four Worldd Cups - out of his provisional 30-man squad named on May 11 would have put Capello under huge pressure.

And the chances of Beckham making the final 23 on June 1 were minimal. When Sky News sent a camera crew around last night (a little before midnight) they were a bit surprised when I said I didn't expect Beckham's absence to have any impact at all on Capello's World Cup plans.

In the 3-1 win against Egypt in their last pre-squad-announcement friendly a fortnight ago, Capello started with the pace of Theo Walcott and moved to the trickery of Shaun Wright-Phillips down the right. Becks stayed firmly on the bench.

Then there's Aaron Lennon, struggling to recover from groin problems, and the impressive James Milner, not to mention Joe Cole. Beckham was way down the pecking order. Better he finishes now, with the cheers of Old Trafford last week ringing in his ears, than as a sad, unused sub when England go to South Africa.

That is not to suggest Beckham wasn't a great player. One of England's top five of all time. But on the pitch, his time had come. As an ambassador, he still has plenty left to offer. Let's hope Fabio remembers that.