4th May (Issue 1211) - The Courier

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48 Tuesday 4 May 2010 THE COURIER Sport World Cup Mixed media images of South Africa Caroline Argyropulo-Palmer Comment Editor “So which one of these huts was like, Mr. Mandela, actually born in?” Our bus was pulled over by the side of the road, cameras facing Nelson Mandela‘s home village; a collection of small corrugated iron huts which probably wouldn’t stand one year, let alone 90. Behind the backs of the cameras on the other side of the road is his current residence, a substantial, walled and comfortable home: rather less ‘photogenic’. It wasn’t only for this village that the zoom lenses came out. All the way along our journey from Cape Town to Johannesburg last summer, the cameras appeared more often for townships and slums than for sunsets or landscape. As the World Cup approaches it feels like this encapsulates the way South Africa 2010 is being viewed. Undoubtedly, it is not a fully ‘developed’ country. Outside of the European-esque luxury of Cape Town are acres of slum housing. When you leave the Garden Route, the area of coast from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, the change from middle class sub- �� poverty, shacks, barren land and a sudden diminishment of white people is shocking. There is crime, there are problems with racism; things which have been particularly utilised in the negative build up to the tournament. However, there are a huge �� Dan Robinson, Alex Burnett, Salisu Mohammed The World Cup is just around the corner, and within a few short months football’s elite will compete against one another for the greatest prize in the game. It is a time of national pride, when even football hooligans can put aside their differences to represent their nation, even if it is not for the most desirable acclaim. However, as the 32 squads are announced, it brings forward the question as to just how patriotic the World Cup actually is. The notion of ‘blood over place’ attracts some strong opinions when it comes to players selecting which country to play for and showcase their skills. For, there are two tiers of footballers; those who move to another country in order to maximise their potential ability, and those who are born in another country after their parents or grandparents had earlier emigrated. The fact that these nations are often former colonialists �� considered a necessity. Success in their homeland is highly unlikely, and a move to one of the European football hotspots such as England or France provides them with the �� Raw beauty: the image of the brand new World Cup stadium in Cape Town and the back-drop of Table Mountain will become one of the iconoc features of this year’s tournament and to its hosting of the World Cup that are being ignored in the search for shock factor stories. This World Cup will bring a lot to South Africa. Infrastructure has been greatly improved, meaning not only new roads, public transport systems and refurbished airports but jobs. The new stadiums mean the same. The volume of tourists will also bring money; many of the hostels we stayed at were already fully booked, and charging double the price. players in European football that the African Nations Cup, held midseason in these leagues, can make or break a season for their clubs. So if players of African descent are considered integral members of the top clubs in Europe, why is the continent not adequately represented on the greatest world stage, with no African side ever getting past the Quarter Final stage of the competition? The answer is simple. For a number of years now, the best players who have emigrated to these colonial countries have been handpicked by their adopted country to play for their national sides, thus robbing their native country of the sort of talent which would allow them to compete at the top level. Two key members of France’s 1998 World Cup winning side, Zinedine Zidane and Marcel Desailly, were not born on French land, instead hailing from Algeria and Ghana respectively. Yet knowledge of their heritage is scarce and they will always be held up as French heroes for their achievements. One argument would be to state that this is merely false patriotism as they were representing a country which was not their true motherland. The counter to this would be that both players were simply answering the innate human characteristic of any athlete, which is to ulti- There’s a huge amount of excitement for the Cup in SA, and across Africa. When I was in Tanzania in 2007 people were already planning their drives down, and huge, frenzied billboards across SA proclaim ‘Bafana Bafana’ or ‘the boys, the boys’ (the nickname for the South African squad). It fosters interest in sport, and a pan race feeling of national, continental and global community and pride; importantly it includes and offers Africa a place in the latter. It is a huge deal for all of Africa, mately be successful. A footballer’s dream is to win every accolade possible, and it could be argued that nationality can sometimes be a burden to this ultimate vision. Take George Weah, voted African Player of the Century and regarded as one of the game’s all-time greats. Yet he remains the only winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year, which he won in 1995, to have never featured in the World Cup due to the weakness of his Liberian national side. Despite playing international football for 14 years, he only amassed 60 caps as Liberia failed to match their greatest player’s talent. That’s just one more than Phil Neville won for England. However, whilst it would be easy to claim that Weah’s talent went to waste by never featuring in the world’s most prestigious sporting tournament after the Olympics, it would be wrong to mock his unquestionable patriotism. For years, he played, coached and even funded the national side in a bid to reach the World Cup, but could not break their obvious limitations. And for some this is the only thing which matters. Representing your country, no matter where they stand in the world rankings, is an honour of the highest regard, and any relative success with them will always outbalance any accomplish- something that hasn’t gone un- �� and emblem showing a man heading and kicking a football form the shape of the whole continent. Africa’s the second largest continent in the world with just over 20% of the world’s land, and it’s time it wasn’t seen as somewhere without merit or structure, somewhere too frightening and dangerous to visit. The continent‘s, and South Africa’s, problems cannot be ignored, but nor should they be seen as a ments with a nation you moved to on the cusp of adulthood. At the end of the day, it is all about the individual, as personal aspirations are always going to exist. Sport is built upon companionship, and if opportunity allows we should all be able to compete in the atmosphere we feel most comfortable in. However, this should not be sideline attraction in some kind of global freak-show. We wouldn’t expect visitors to the 2012 Olympics to take a day trip to Tower Hamlets to take a few photos to show their friends how hardcore their holiday was. It is about time Africa hosted the World Cup, and South Africa is the obvious choice from the continent. It loves football just as much, has as much to do, and as many potential pitfalls, as any other host nation, and the camera needs to capture more than just the bad. Blood over place: a World Cup of false patriotism? Success, but does it come at a price of silverware over patriotism? Zinedine Zidane and Marcel Desailly celebrate after their memorable World Cup win with France in 1998 exploited by the big international teams, who are sometimes accused of striving to retain the status quo often seen at club level. The World Cup is the greatest football show on earth, and should always remain a showcase of 32 teams competing to win, rather than just eight teams with players brought in from all corners of the earth.
THE COURIER Tuesday 4 May 2010 49 Sport The man who won gold but lost God �� David Coverdale�� It was 1991 when a fresh-faced, 25-year-old Jonathan Edwards �� - �� - �� - �� and in 2007, the then Songs of Praise �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - �� We did well at the World Indoor Record breaker: Jonathan Edwards celebrates breaking the triple jump world record at the 1995 World Athletics Championships �� - “As an athlete there’s something very special about your personal best. My personal best is the world record – it’s the best jump I ever did, it’s the best jump there has ever been” �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - ��- �� N�� than Edwards - the �� - �� - �� - �� he told the Daily Mail�� - �� - �� with the 31-year-old and describes �� - �� - �� he can do it? �� - �� - �� - �� - �� - ��
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