World Cup 2010: The final analysis, Spain one, South Africa won

From the opening concert at the Orlando Stadium to the final burst of fireworks at Soccer City, the glory at this World Cup belonged not to Spain but to South Africa.

A grubby final was snatched after 114 goalless minutes by Andres Iniesta’s well-taken effort allowing Spain to erupt in celebration at last.

So often the under-achievers, Iniesta is just one of a dozen world-class La Rochas. Interesting then that the Barcelona element felt the need to parade the Catalan flag at the crucial, cup-lifting moment.

South Africa were supposed to be the divided country. Long accused of being incapable of hosting football’s greatest event, the teenagers of democracy got it together with gusto.

While Spain may have outlasted the local hopefuls, Bafana Bafana, by some distance, did any country of the 32 experience a greater nation-building month than the hosts?

Of course not. Spain will go home to their Basque/Castillian/Catalan nations with heads held high. But from where I sit, after nearly three months of travelling South Africa, this wasn’t about Spain 1, Netherland 0. It was simply South Africa won.

When I set out on this epic journey, nobody had even heard of Paul the Octopus or Luis Suarez’s hand. No. The foreign press were harping on about bloodbaths and muggings and unfinished infrastructure when I turned up in Durban for the Indaba 2010 Tourism conference on May 8.

For the next month, it was all about denying the doom-mongers. Strangely, England’s training camp in Phokeng was not “a dump” as the British tabloids described it. It was finished on time, and perfect for the job. You can’t blame the Bafokeng people for England’s appalling showing here.

Similarly, the roads and stadia were near-perfect. And the brand new King Shaka airport, apart from lacking a parking warden, was pretty good too.

Everywhere we travelled, foreign fans were ecstatic. Glad they had “taken the risk” of coming to deepest, darkest Africa. Were any wags mugged? Were any mugs wagged? Anybody bitten by deadly snakes or murdered in their hotel beds?

No.

Were the stadiums half-finished or half-empty? Not at the best supported World Cup since 1994. Did the fans come? Yes, despite the negative claptrap, over half a million travelled here. And they will return to encourage more to revisit this country, where whales, dolphins, elephants and lions can entertain as much as over-paid footballers, Diego Maradona or blind referees.

How many rugby or cricket World Cups, how many Olympics, have been this successful? How many times do you attend a major sports event to be struck not by the talent of the athletes but by the quality of the fans, the service, the sheer joy of being here?

Not many.

And now, no doubt, the tireless Danny Jordaan will receive apologies from everywhere... from The Sun to the New Zealand Herald, as the world realises that, actually, Africa does quite a good job when it comes to global events. Let’s count those retractions.

No, not one.

But there we were. After 64 matches in 10 perfect stadia, a riveting open ceremony and a technically incredible closing show. Nelson Mandela even popped in to give us a wave. We had the fireworks lighting the sky over Soweto, the Spaniards adding the World Cup to their European crown, the fans delighted to celebrate with them and their two flags.

One winner. South Africa. Where unbuntu, that feeling of being part of a family, overwhelmed the plethora of yellow cards and cynical fouls.

Pre-tournament favourites Spain won this World Cup with less goals than any side has ever managed before – they hardly thrilled us, apart from when they surprisingly lost their opening game against modest Switzerland. Holland set out to kick them off the park.

After the final I found myself arguing with former Arsenal "star" Perry Groves over the merits of Spain and the football at this World Cup. From where they sat, they weren't thrilled. Philistines. Mourning for England, they missed the whole point.

And it didn’t matter. Because all around, the lamentable, lovable vuvuzelas were blowing, the locals were dancing... and South Africa rather than Spain was united in self-congratulation.

Finally this quote from President Jacob Zuma: "When we won the rights to host the World Cup, we knew that working together we would be able to succeed. But what has happened has exceeded our expectations. That is because of the role played by our people, the South Africans. They are the stars and champions of this tournament."

Amen.

FIFA's profits soar into the blue and the Rainbow Nation is in the pink: Why the coldest World Cup could be the coolest

Just over a week after the big kick-off, FIFA and South Africa are basking in the glow of success – and vastly increased profits.

Though the World Cup’s first Vuvuzela-related injury has blighted one fan’s fun – Yvonne Meyer, 29, from Cape Town “ruptured her throat by blowing too hard” – the figures pouring forth from FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke suggest Africa’s first effort is set to surpass any previous global sporting event.

Valcke, perhaps the smoothest of FIFA’s many executives in the build-up to an event some thought would collapse before June 11, reckons his organisation will enjoy an increase of 50 percent on profits from the record-breaking mark set by Germany 2006.

Nicolas Maingot, the money man for FIFA, is expecting a “provisional income” of around over £2bn (R24 billion) from ticket sales and broadcast rights. Though most of that will go to Sepp Blatter’s organisation, dire predictions that South Africa would be bankrupted appear to be unfounded.

According to Danny Jordaan, the heroic local committee chief who has fought long and hard for the locals, an unprecedented 456,000 foreign visitors arrived in South Africa between June 1 and June 13. He expects “a second wave” of tourists next week and further increases as the tournament hits the knock-out stages.

While the local South Africa FA will earn £20m (R1,5bn) to help local football, that is peanuts compared to national income from foreign visitors, estimated to spend a minimum £1,000 per person. Audit advisors Grant Thornton gave a “conservative estimate” of £10m (R120m) being pumped into the economy.

President Jacob Zuma, urging South Africans to support the tournament even if their beloved Bafana Bafana exit prematurely on Tuesday, said: “As a country and as a continent we have already won. The success of the World Cup is our success. Let us keep up the momentum and keep the vuvuzelas blowing.”

Though the aforementionedVuvuzela victim Ms Meyer has been advised not to eat or speak for two days, she is on the mend and managed to gasp: “I’ve been told it will heal by itself. I was starving by the time I could eat some soup and yoghurt.”

Vuvuzelas aside, this World Cup has seen 98 percent of tickets sold with a million spectators attending the first 20 games. Matches so far have attracted a global television audience of over 500million. Eleven of the matches baosted attendances of over 97 percent though some ticket holders failed to attend.

Ticket sales are expected to surpass Germany 2006 as the final group games approach. With France sending their top striker Nicolas Anelka home yesterday for calling coach Raymond Domenech “the son of a whore” according to L’Equipe (the Chelsea striker denies it and refused to apologise), opposition leader Helen Zille told the his country: “Now we need to focus on the 90 minutes against France in Bloemfontein. If you do that, and if the whole country is behind Bafana Bafana, we can do it. But whatever happens on Tuesday, we can be proud of the role the team has play in united our nation.”

The Rainbow Nation is already out of the red. A win against the 1998 World Cup winners might just send the whole country into the pink.

Neal Collins is in South Africa to complain about England's form and promote his first noval A GAME APART. See www.nealcollins.co.uk. To see Neal at the National Arts Festival on July 4, go tohttp://www.computicket.com/web/event/neal_collins_a_game_apart/148367625.