S. Africans in unity for Cup
You must have heard the story before __ the story of a country through a local taxi driver. Sfiso, 39, is the man who rescued us on Sunday when we called him to take us from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein.
Our nerves were on edge because we wanted to reach the Free State Stadium in time to watch the England- Germany match. “400 kilometres in four hours? I think we can,” he reassured us, asking us to bring along a couple of more friends so that trip is affordable to everyone.
But the money he asked for the round trip wasn’t exorbitant. Sfiso, who wasn’t ready to cash in on the Cup, made the journey on one straight road memorable with his insightful views on a variety of subjects.
From road rules to culture to language, Sfiso touched every base a foreign visitor would be interested in. It helped that he knew his football. The father of four with an eclectic musical taste said “he fights with his wife every day to gain control of the remote during the news hour.” Over to Sfiso.
Doubters proved wrong: I’m a big fan of Sepp Blatter because the Fifa president was instrumental in awarding the Cup to South Africa. The tournament has changed perceptions about our country and continent.
Foreign visitors were made to believe that Johannesburg was the crime capital of the world. I agree there have been stray incidents but nothing on the scale predicted by the doomsayers. Not everyone you bump into is a criminal here. Efforts to poison the atmosphere have failed miserably.
Reasons for SA’s stagnation in football: Our international standing is no match for our passion. You must remember that apartheid kept us out of international football for many years. Generations of talented players missed out on representing South Africa. We played our first World Cup only 12 years ago. Another critical reason is there is no infrastructure for football here. During apartheid, almost every school had coaches and grounds for rugby and cricket. But football was left to fend for itself. Ruling Afrikaaners didn’t bother about the game. Even today children learn football only on the streets.
— T.N. Raghu
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