When South Africa locked horns with Mexico in the first match of the 19th World Cup it wasn’t just a proud moment for the entire nation, it was also a moment of gratification for beaming families who welcomed little ones to their clan.
As a token of appreciation for the event finally reaching their continent, some even christened their children with the World Cup as their inspiration. Busiswa Landiso and her boyfriend Samuel Ntshiwa from Bloemfontein named their baby boy Ke Nako – the official slogan of the event.
Another family from Free State named their twins, who were born 10 minutes into the World Cup opener, on the two competing teams. The Venters named their twin boys Bafana Reinhardt and Mexico Llewellyn.
Single-mom Anele Ntshinga gave birth to a baby girl just as the Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov was blwoing the opening whistle. Thanking the organisers, Fifa, for bringing the event to her backyard she named the baby girl after the world football governing body.
Tshaba ga ga
One thundering strike from Bafana Bafana’s Simphiwe Tshabalala left-foot was enough to make him the darling of millions of adoring fans, it has also sent his stock rising. Playing with Kaizer Cheifs in the South African league, after being linked with moves to the Bundesliga and the Turkish League last season, Tshabalala is all set to emulate the likes of compatriots Steve Pienaar and Aaron Mokoena in playing top-flight football in Europe.
The owner of his club Kaizer Motuang has set a Rand20 million price tag on his head and his hopeful some of the European teams will come knocking on his door with sacks full of money. Tshabalala, who won his 50th cap in the match against Mexico, was also felicitated by head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira on Saturday for reaching the milestone.
— Rohit Bhaskar