A football-specific stadium, the FNB Stadium currently seats 78,000 people in plastic bucket seats. The stadium has the third largest capacity in Africa. Most of the largest football events in South Africa are played at the FNB and the venue is better suited to these events than nearby Ellis Park, where the final for the Rugby World Cup in 1995 was held. Soweto and the National Exhibition Centre in Nasrec are nearby.
FNB Stadium or Soccer City
A football-specific stadium, the FNB Stadium currently seats 78,000 people in plastic bucket seats. The stadium has the third largest capacity in Africa. Most of the largest football events in South Africa are played at the FNB and the venue is better suited to these events than nearby Ellis Park, where the final for the Rugby World Cup in 1995 was held. Soweto and the National Exhibition Centre in Nasrec are nearby.
FIFA World Cup 2010
The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, an international tournament for football, that is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. It will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by a nation in the Confederation of African Football, leaving the Oceania Football Confederation as the only FIFA Confederation never to have hosted the event.
Egypt
Libya / Tunisia (co-hosting)
Morocco
South Africa
Following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libya's solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements.
After one round of voting, the winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on 15 May 2004 in Zurich. South Africa was awarded the rights to host the tournament, defeating Morocco and Egypt.[1]
Results:
South Africa, 14 votes
Morocco, 10 votes
Egypt, 0 votes
Tunisia withdrew on 8 May 2004 after joint bidding was not allowed
Libya bid was rejected: bid did not meet the list of requirements and joint bidding was not allowed
Qualification
Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
As the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically for the tournament. However, South Africa is the first host since 1934 to participate in World Cup qualifiers. This is because the CAF qualifiers will also serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, for which South Africa must qualify separately. Like the previous tournament, the defending champions Italy do not qualify automatically.
The preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban, South Africa, on 25 November 2007.
The Final draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be staged in Cape Town, South Africa, in December 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Qualified teams
CAF
South Africa (host)
Gambia National Football Team
Gambia National Football Team:The soccer squad are also nicknamed The Scorpions, they are the national team of Gambia and are overseen by the Gambia Football Association. Until 1965, the team, and the country, were known as British Gambia. It has never qualified for the World Cup. The country kicked off the qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations 2004 with an historic draw against Senegal and silver-medalists at the African Cup of Nations 2002) and also enjoyed a short period at the top of their qualifying group. Gambia's most famous players are Jatto Ceesay, Ebou Sillah, Seffo Soley and Edrissa Sonko.Uniform Team Kit:
Jerseys: Red/blue/white
Socks: Red/blue/white
Popularity:Soccer is by far the most popular sport as a spectators sport and pastime, loved by Gambians of all ages and in particular the young. The country's international success is very limited due to its small size which limits the pool size from which talent can be drawn. In the last few years, football in Gambia has experienced a considerable rise in popularity particularly with the advent and increasing use of satellite television which has bought the likes of David Beckham & international league games to people's homes. All seven regions of the nation are represented by clubs in the first, second and third divisions of the national championship. Recently, an official women's championship has also been organised. At youth level, Gambia qualified for the African U-17 Championship for the first time in 2003, when the event was held in Swaziland.Independence Stadium in Bakau frequently hosts local and international matches, attended by large crowds, as tickets are free or quite inexpensive.
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham,[1] OBE[2] (born 2 May 1975) is an English footballer, who plays in midfield. He plays for and captains Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy[4] and is also a member of the England national team. He earned his much publicised 100th cap for England against France in March 2008.[5]
He has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year[6], and in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer.[7] He was Google's most searched of all sports topics in both 2003 and 2004.[8] Such global recognition has made him an elite advertising brand and a top fashion icon.[9][10] Beckham was captain of England from 15 November 2000[11] to 2 July 2006. He made 58 appearances as captain, and ended his tenure in that role after the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals,[12] however, continued to make contributions for the England national team in competitions after this.[13] Beckham captained Manchester United for the first time on 21 October 2000 in a Premiership match against Leeds United, coming on as a substitute for injured team captain Roy Keane.[14]
Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team début in 1992 aged 17.[6] During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999.[6] He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons.[15] While at Madrid, Beckham became the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches.[6] In his final season, Real clinched the 2006–07 La Liga championship title—Beckham's only major trophy with the club—in the final game of the season on 17 June.[16] In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid and sign a five-year contract with Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy.[17]
Beckham's contract with Los Angeles Galaxy became effective on 1 July 2007 and gave him the highest salary of any MLS player in history.[18] He débuted for the team on 21 July in a friendly versus Chelsea at The Home Depot Center,[19] and on 15 August, he had his first start with the team, scoring his first goal in the 2007 SuperLiga semi-final.[20] His first league start then came on 18 August in front of a record crowd at Giants Stadium.[21]
Alongside his career as a footballer, Beckham has gained a significant amount of fame and celebrity status through his marriage to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, leading to various sponsorship deals and advertising campaigns and an estimated joint wealth of £112 million.[22] The couple have three sons and currently reside in Beverly Hills, California.
New Zealand
Caribbean
In the English-speaking Caribbean, with the exception of the Bahamas, "football" and "soccer" are both used to refer to association football, but use of the word "football" is far more common. American football is exclusively referred to as "American football" and is largely unknown apart from American television. The nickname of the Trinidad & Tobago team, "The Soca Warriors", refers to a style of music, not the word soccer.