No, I didn't conduct this interview. I only wish I did.(If anyone has connections and can hook me up with Mr. Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of the South African World Cup organizing committee, I'd be happy to do it.)Alas, I'm but a poor blogger in New York. But one day, I promise.This interview was conducted by Keir Radnedge for SportsFeatures.com.I include it here as it's insightful, full of meat and provides a clear eye of where South Africa believes they are, one year before the world... Read Full Story

FIFA's July 2009 world rankings are out and in Africa, Ivory Coast's Elephants reign supreme.The Elephants are 18th in the world, up 20 places from last month. They've now over taken last month's African #1, Cameroon, who slipped to second, 29th in the world.This matches Ivory Coast's highest ever position in the FIFA table. Go on, Elephants!Ivory Coast's two wins in 2010 World Cup qualifying in the last month helped them move into the number one position in Africa. They were also aided by ... Read Full Story

Just when we thought South Africa was in for smooth sailing until next year's World Cup, here comes some disheartening news.According to Reuters, South Africa's biggest union said 50,000 construction workers would launch a strike over pay starting next Wednesday, halting work across the economy including on stadiums for the 2010 World Cup.Not good."A strike action is set to begin on July 8," said Lesiba Seshoka, spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) which also represents const... Read Full Story

It's all over. The 2009 Confederations Cup is in the books and Brazil reigns supreme as the greatest team in the world.Ok, maybe not. Or maybe so ... Hard to tell. What does the Confederations Cup really mean?One thing the Cup does is serve as a dress rehearsal for the 2010 World Cup. This year's version surely showed the world what to expect come next summer: Raucous crowds, vuvuzelas and exciting play.What else did we learn?Here are five things we've learned from the Confederations Cup acco... Read Full Story

According to the great EPL Talk soccer news site, ESPN have announced their plans for next year's 2010 World Cup. Expect wall-to-wall coverage of the world's biggest sporting event, with all of the network's World Cup coverage from on-site in South Africa, totaling more than 65 hours of original content.Not only that, there will be a nightly World Cup Live show (30 minutes) shown on ESPN's family of networks and pre-match, halftime and post-match shows, shown on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.Sounds like... Read Full Story

Ok, so the United States gave Brazil all it could handle in the 2009 Confederations Cup final, falling to the 5-time World Cup champions, 3-2.But what does it really mean?According to the Boston Globe's Mark Stokes, this final could be the match that pushes soccer into the forefront of American sports.David Beckham and MLS haven't done it. Can a spunky USA team in South Africa in 2009 do it?Have a read and send us your opinion.They came, they saw, and they almost conquered the world!Bob Bradl... Read Full Story

Now that the 2009 Confederations Cup is over (congrats to Brazil from a disgruntled American), how did it go?The 2010 World Cup dress rehearsal seems to have gone over well with football's world governing body FIFA. The organization's president, Sepp Blatter, addressed the media today."South Africa is heading in the right direction and the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and the South African government have done an exceptional job, but there are still challenges to be addressed," Mr Blatter... Read Full Story

South Africa came oh-so-close to advancing to the Confederations Cup final against the United States this Sunday. For now, they'll have to settle for a third-place match against Spain.Still, the host nation's performance against Brazil in a 1-0 loss in the semi final has made believers of Bafana Bafana's supporters.They showed heart, passion and true grit against one of the world's football giants. A bounce here and there and we'd be talking about South Africa, not Brazil, in the final.Bafana... Read Full Story

We're almost to the 2010 World Cup in Africa, as the continent is now half way through their last phase of Cup qualifying.Where do we stand? Let's take a look at the standings for the five groups.Remember, the five group winners go to the 2010 World Cup. The top three in each group advance to the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola. Qualifying starts again in September.GROUP A PWDLGFGAPts Gabon 2 2 0 0 5 1 6 Togo 3 1 1 1 1 3 4 Morocco 3 0 2 1 1 2 2 Cameroon 2 0 1 1 ... Read Full Story

After today's shocking 2-0 USA victory over top-ranked Spain, only three matches remain at the 2009 Confederations Cup.We'll be back next summer for the big one, the 2010 World Cup.Today, the excellent Guardian news paper of England is taking a look at South Africa's culture of football through a series of 'stunning photographs taken in the Erasmia and Soweto townships near Johannesburg.'Do yourself and check out this series of wonderful, smart photos by photographers Vladimir Rys, Jamie McDo... Read Full Story