Golden boot contenders for the 2010 World Cup

There have been some incredible goals in the FIFA World Cup so far, starting with what could be the goal of the tournament, by Bafana Bafana’s Siphiwe Tshabalala.

The top goal scorers as of this morning, 27 June 2010, were as follows:

This table may look very different after tonight’s games! Look out for an update during the week.

If you’re heading down to Cape Town to support your team in the upcoming games, be sure to check out our gourmet backpackers, with private rooms for R400/ night.

Source: www.goal.com

Public Transport in Cape Town during the World Cup

There is lots of accessible and affordable public transport running during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, which is available from or near the Civic Centre bus station in Hertzog Boulevard in the city centre, and from Cape Town Rail Station. These are within easy walking distance of each other.

A free shuttle bus service for match ticket holders will run from the Civic Centre bus station to Cape Town Stadium in Green Point. This service will operate from six hours before kick-off, until four hours after the final whistle. Buses will depart every three to five minutes, depending on demand.

Great news for Highstead House guests is that there will also be a free bus service from the park-and-ride facility on the University of Cape Town’s Upper Campus in Rondebosch (5 minutes walk from our gourmet backpackers) to the Civic Centre bus station. The hours of operation will be from four hours before kick-off until four after final whistle.

The inner-city bus service, which will run 24 hours a day, will travel from the Civic Centre bus station, along DF Malan Street, Table Bay Boulevard, Heerengracht, Coen Steytler Avenue, Long Street and Loop Street, Buitensingel, Orange Street, Buitenkant Street, Darling Street, Oswald Pirow Street, and back to the Civic Centre bus station. This route also provides convenient access to numerous restaurants, entertainment areas, parking areas, and places of interest. Each journey will cost R8, and buses will depart every 10 to 30 minutes.

Road closures during the World Cup event will be kept to a minimum. However, some roads will be pedestrian-only zones, while access to others will only be for vehicles with the necessary security clearance and event accreditation. To find out exactly which roads will be affected by the World Cup festivities please visit www.capetownpartnership.co.za

Image source: propertyinvesting.net

How to transfer FIFA World Cup tickets

If you bought a World Cup ticket for your girlfriend who is now an ex-girlfriend, or got a little over excited when the World Cup ticket sales started and have ended up with one too many, you may be able to get a refund or give the extra one to someone else.

To qualify for a ticket transfer you need to have bought your World Cup tickets online via www.FIFA.com or via official paper ticket application forms. If you bought them as part of Authorized Travel Packages or Official Hospitality Packages you should contact the Hospitality Agents directly for all customer service issues.

If you qualify to transfer your ticket, you can do it in two ways: a ticket transfer to someone you know or a ticket resale, where you will receive a refund if your ticket is resold.

Guest ticket transfer

If you want to transfer a ticket from one guest to another you need to submit a transfer request online within the “View your application” menu item of www.FIFA.com/2010 or at a FIFA Ticketing Centre within South Africa. You will also need to give a ‘valid reason’ for transferring the ticket. This can be done from now up until three days before the match that you have tickets for.

Valid reasons for guest ticket transfers include things like a guest being ill or unable to obtain a valid visa to travel to South Africa. Documentation may be required to establish the grounds for the valid reason, and FIFA retains the right to refuse a transfer if the supporting documents are not supplied upon request.

Unfortunately you can’t transfer your own ticket, however if you can’t attend a match you can submit it for possible resale.

Ticket Resales

You need to go through authorized sales channels to resell your ticket, and do it before you have printed out a hard ticket. You will only get a refund if your ticket is resold, and there is no guarantee that this will happen. If your Tickets are resold, you’ll receive a refund no later than 4 weeks after the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, less a 10% administration fee.

You will also have the opportunity to give tickets that you cannot use to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Ticket Fund, which is a programme designed to allocate tickets for worthy social and development initiatives within South Africa. Read more on FIFA.com.

If you’re coming to Cape Town and haven’t organised your accommodation yet make sure you check out our gourmet backpackers, Highstead House, with private rooms for R600/ night.

Can Cristiano step up to the plate?

The captain of Portugal needs little introduction, Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most famous football players in the world. As with all supremely talented sports stars, there are those that adore him and those that deplore him. The general rule of thumb is that those who adore him support the team he plays for and those that deplore him support the team he plays against.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro started playing “formal” football at the age of eight. He played for an amateur team in Portugal called Andorinha. As a player bursting with talent he was swiftly spotted by a professional Portuguese club called Sporting CP who signed him for an undisclosed amount. Before long he made waves in the English football world when Sporting CP defeated Manchester United in 2003. Ronaldo’s performance left an impression on some of the Manchester United players who encouraged Sir Alex Ferguson to sign him on.

Ronaldo shot to fame when stepped into the rather large boots of David Beckham at Manchester United. Alex Ferguson insisted that Ronaldo wear the Number 7 jersey, the same number that Beckham had immortalized in his years at Manchester United.

Ronaldo’s career has been nothing short of astonishing, his achievements in club football are so numerous that listing them would probably bore you, so here are some of his most noteworthy achievements to date:

• In the 2006 – 2007 season Ronaldo was named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, the PFA Young Player of the Year awards and the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year. Ronaldo was also one of eight Manchester United players named in the 2006–07 PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
• He finished as the runner-up to Kaká for the 2007 Ballon d’Or, and was third in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, behind Kaká and Lionel Messi
• In 2008 Ronaldo became Manchester United’s first Ballon d’Or recipient since George Best in 1968 and went on to win FIFA World Player of the year.

What is simply astonishing is that Ronaldo’s has amassed all these (and other) accolades before his 25^th birthday.

Although his club football career is littered with trophies and awards he has not been able to achieve the same success playing for his country. There is also a question mark surrounding his ability to lead and his appointment as captain of Portugal.  Can he step up to the plate and lead his team to lift the coveted trophy? Time will tell.

With just a couple of days until the World Cup starts, time is running out to book your accommodation.  If you have not booked somewhere to stay in Cape Town yet, click here to book accommodation at Highstead House.

Sources:

Wikipedia

Image sourced from fistedaway.wordpress.com

Where to collect your FIFA 2010 World Cup tickets

So you’re booked your flight and your accommodation, mapped out all your favourite tourist attractions and are pretty much packed and ready to roll. But wait, something is missing… you still need to collect your actual FIFA World Cup tickets!

To make sure that collecting your tickets is as quick and easy as possible FIFA Ticket Terminals will be set up at OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg, King Shaka Airport, Durban and the Cape Town Airport from 7 June 2010 to 11 July 2010 from 7am to 9pm. The Self Service Ticket Terminal will be assisted by a volunteer should any queries arise and the Helpdesk Ticket Terminal will be manned by a member of staff.

If you’d like to collect your tickets ahead of time, or are flying in at the crack of dawn or late at night, you can also collect your tickets from any of the FIFA Ticketing Centres (FTCs). The Cape Town FTC is located at The Spearhead, 42 Hans Strijdom Avenue, Foreshore, Cape Town. It is open 7 days a week, from 9am to 6pm, and will be open for longer on days prior to matches at the Cape Town Stadium.

Source: www.fifa.com ; Image sourced from: travelblog.portfoliocollection.com

Where to watch the World Cup in Cape Town

68 000 lucky football fans will watch each of the games at the Cape Town Stadium live, starting with Uruguay versus France at 20:30 on Friday, 11 June 2010 and ending with a semi-final on Tuesday, 6 July 2010.

If you’ve managed to secure a seat in the Stadium, make sure that you leave plenty of time to get there, and enjoy the festivities along the Fan Walk on your way. The Fan Walk route is 2,2 km long and runs from the Cape Town Station on Adderley Street, to the FIFA Fan Fest on the Grand Parade, along Waterkant Street, across the new pedestrian bridge at Buitengracht, along Somerset Road ending up right outside the Stadium.

There will be police, security, information points, toilets and refreshments en route, as well as a number of restaurants and cafes if you want to stop for a bite to eat or rest your weary legs.

The Cape Quarter is situated right in the centre of the Fan Walk and is an ideal place to enjoy the World Cup celebrations. The Piazza and the Square will be transformed into festive party zones with an array of live entertainment and plasma screens to watch the games.

If you didn’t manage to get tickets, make your way to one of the many restaurants or bars showing the matches on big screens, or secure a spot at the Grand Parade to experience the electric atmosphere and watch the games amidst roaring crowds of fanatical supporters.

The Grand Parade, with a capacity of 28 000, is the official FIFA fan festival for the duration of the World Cup. Entry will be free of charge and all 64 matches will be broadcasted live. Food and drinks will be available and additional entertainment will be provided between matches.

If you haven’t arranged your accommodation for your stay in Cape Town yet, check out our Gourmet Backpackers, with private rooms for R600/ night.

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Get your official FIFA World Cup fan guide

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee has released a comprehensive, user-friendly and colourful 92-page guide to the tournament. The official mascot for 2010, Zakumi, talks the reader through useful information on the stadiums, host cities, fan parks and lots more.

The fan guide offers assistance with everyday matters such as banking and food, as well as safety tips. There are maps which indicate how to get to each stadium, where to buy tickets, the nearest airports and transport – including road, rail and air – as well as accommodation and communication.

The rules and safety guide explains to readers which items are prohibited in stadiums and also outlines a code of conduct to promote maximum safety at all times during games and when fans are out and about.
Zakumi also introduces each host city to the reader with a breakdown of interesting facts, history and an entertaining guide to the local SA slang.

You may download your FIFA World Cup fan guide here (PDF 6.4MB) or collect a copy upon arrival to South Africa.

World Cup fan guide

Source: BizCommunity.com

Is the Oranje sweet enough in 2010?

Oranje is the nickname that was given to the Dutch football team in recognition of their “Total Football” method of play in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. During this tournament the Netherlands adopted a method of play in which any player can take over the role of another, producing a performance that ran like “clockwork oranje”. Given that the Dutch have never won the tournament this nick name is somewhat misleading, come to think of it they have been infamous underachievers at previous World Cup tournaments. The Oranje made it to two consecutive World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978, but lost both finals to their respective host nations West Germany and Argentina.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Gio for short) is the man that has been selected to lead the Oranje in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  A brief glance over his career induces a sense of awe in the reader, in my opinion this man is one of the truly great, no nonsense sort of players in the game today.

Gio has played club football in Scotland (Rangers), England (Arsenal), Spain (Barcalona) and his homeland the Netherlands (RKC Waalwijk and Feyenoord). He started his international career against Brazil way back in 1996. Since then he has earned 96 international caps, played for his country in two World Cups (1998 and 2006), as well as three European Championships (2000, 2004, and 2008).

At 35, Gio is one of the oldest captains/players in world football. His wisdom and leadership ability is reflected in a quote from an interview in 2009:

“We’ve always produced outstanding players, but for whatever reason, we’ve only once come up with one truly great team.”

Gio understands that the greatest obstacle the Oranje face is getting 11 supremely talented players functioning as one unit. As captain he is perfectly placed to instill a teamwork approach within the Oranje. Gio has never captained Holland in a World Cup, is he the man who will he unite his team and kiss the golden trophy in July 2010?

Sources: wikepedia, playnumber10.com, fifa.com, giovanbronckhorst.wimsicl.com

Image sourced from: http://giovanbronckhorst.wimsicl.com/

World Cup ticket update

Sadly, there are no more tickets available for 2010 World Cup™ matches at Cape Town Stadium following the fifth and final stage of ticket sales, but those who have reserved and paid for tickets can now collect them from FIFA’s Ticketing Centre in central Cape Town.

But the good news is that even though tickets for all eight World Cup™ games to be played at the city’s new 68 000 seat stadium have been reserved, FIFA said that a few tickets may still be released for sale to the public.
“Tickets for these games might still come back (in small quantities) to the public sales in the future,” FIFA said in a statement.

World Cup 2010 Stadia in South Africa

For updates on the availability of World Cup™ matches, visit https://lmsfwctickets.fifa.com/LMS/MatchAvailability.aspx.

The last phase of ticket sales provoked near stampedes across the country where the public were queueing for miles to get their hands on a World Cup™ ticket. Just over 100 000 tickets were sold in the first day and the last few tickets for Cape Town matched were snapped up within hours.

The opening of the 11 FIFA Ticketing Centres across the country also means that fans can now collect tickets reserved and paid for during previous ticket sales phases.

Fans will need to produce their ID/passport, FIFA Original Ticket Confirmation, and proof of residence (such as telephone/ utility account) for Category four tickets, which are reserved for South Africans only.

Cape Town’s official FIFA Ticketing Centre is at The Spearhead, 42 Hans Strijdom Avenue, Foreshore, and is open from 09:00 to 18:00 seven days a week.

A FIFA Ticket Terminal will also be located at Cape Town International Airport from 7 June to 11 July 2010.
All queries relating to games and tickets must be directed to FIFA.

FIFA hotline number: 083 123 2010

Keep an ear to the ground as there still may be a few more tickets up for grabs according to FIFA. If you do have your tickets and need a place to stay while you are in Cape Town for the game, take a look at this affordable accommodation.

Source: Cape Town Government

My South Africa Essentials App ideal for World Cup visitors

This free iPhone App is a must have for all visitors traveling to South Africa for the FIFA World Cup. It’s the perfect way to be immersed in all the action, navigate your way around each of the host cities and stay in touch with friends and families back home.  Download it here.

iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users can use it to look up World Cup information, such as the latest updates about their favourite teams. It will also give them access to detailed city guides, interactive maps and travel advice. And to put the cherry on the cake, users can share information via mySouthAfrica.tv where they can upload pictures, videos, postcards and stories to capture the essence of their trip to South Africa.

William Prince, global manager, e-marketing, South African Tourism said, “This new iPhone application allows South African Tourism to offer rich, engaging content that is very specific to the users and presented in a new and dynamic way. The content is fresh, accurate and appropriate for those travelling to South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and allows the users to share all their stories and experiences straight from the iPhone.”

Sources: Bizcommunity.com , Apple.com