Vuvuzela South Africa

Today is the last Football Friday of the 2010 World Cup. It seems like it all want past in a multi-coloured blur of excitement and amazing soccer.

Bafana Bafana makes South Africa Proud

We waited so long from that first announcement that South Africa would host the 2010 World Cup, the first on African soil, to the kickoff, just four weeks ago on 11 June at Soccer City in Jozi when Bafana Bafana held Mexico to a draw and Sipiwe Tshabalala score one of the most beautiful goals of the entire 2010 World Cup –in fact  the first goal of the tournament. (I’d show you the video, but FIFA has copyright and has taken all the copies off YouTube).

Do we even remember that Football Fridays were a campaign of Brand SA to get the country behind Bafana Bafana and to catch some “gees” for the 2010 World Cup. It took off quite slowly, with only die-hard soccer supporters and a patriotic few sporting yellow jerseys. At first, the jerseys were really hard to get and they were very expensive.

Vuvuzelas, Mirror Socks, and Flags

As we got closer to the big even, more jerseys and T-shirts came onto the market and Fridays became decidedly more yellow. Vuvuzelas started appearing all over the place – really cheap and in many colours.

Then the flags came out and the mirror socks and before we new it South Africa was swept up in a Bafana Bafana and World Cup frenzy like nobody had ever expected.

People were writing to me asking me where they could buy a vuvuzela. Flags and mirror socks were available at almost every traffic light and on the roadside and South Africa exploded into colour as the visitors arrived for the tournament.

I have never seen so many flags – car flags – flags hanging out of windows, strung up on masts, painted on faces…. everywhere. And one could hear the paaarp of vuvuzelas all over.

Waka Waka Official World Cup Song

I never really got the diski dance, but it wasn’t long before I got fully into the Waka Waka Official World Cup song and was going Waka Waka to everybody. (I must admit I wasn’t happy at first – nothing against Shakira, but hey we have awesome singers in South Africa)

Last Football Friday

And now that it is the last Football Friday, and we have only two more matches left, let us make a commitment not to stop flying the flag… Can we keep flying the flag,  just for a little bit longer?

OK there won’t be anymore Football Fridays where you can just go up and greet and chat to anyone in a yellow jersey, ’cause you know you have something in common.

But maybe Fridays can just sort of unofficially become a day that we greet one or two strangers and say Yebo or Howzit! – Just for the sake of the beautiful game man!

Check out some cool Football Friday Pics at AwesomeSA

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The Biggest Football on the planet stands an impressive 15 m high. Mr. Robert Molloy, adjudicator and Director of Television Guinness World Records, has confirmed it as the world’s biggest football.

Based on the Telstar ball of the 1970 FIFA World Cup, it is almost 70 times the size and 1,500 times heavier than the Jabulani ball says goal.com

Guinness World Records

To enter the Guinness World Records the ball needed to conform to certain specifications: it must be inflatable and deflatable, be able to roll and be kicked, and must be an exact replica of an official FIFA match ball. In other words, it has to do all the things that a regular soccer ball can do.

“Fortunately Guinness gave some leniency when it came to the materials – we did not have to manufacture the ball out of shoe laces and leather panels but were allowed to use PVC instead,” said Stefan Vermaak of Information SA, the specialist marketing company commissioned to run the Emperors Palace and Kia big ball project, at the event.

“This ball is a real replica that, despite its size, moves and looks like an Adidas Telstar ball,” he said at the event.

The colossal ball that rests on the enormous Chariots Fountain next to the D’oreale Grande Hotel has already become a draw card for Emperors Palace, where the display forms part of the entertainment complex FIFA World Cup viewing zone.

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World Cup Mania is building up as we lead up to the biggest sporting spectacular in the world. It is only a couple of weeks before South Africa and Mexico face each other at Soccer city in Johannesburg and the referee blows the whistle for the 2010 World Cup South Africa to begin.

Best Commercial Ever Made?

Nike has done an awesome job job of pumping up the hype with a truly epic three minute commercial featuring  its stable of superstar footballers like Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Fabio Cannavaro, Landon Donovan and Cristiano Ronaldo, the short film is directed by Alejandro Inarritu (“21 Grams” and “Babel”) and contains cameos from Roger Federer, Kobe Bryant and even Homer Simpson.

People are saying this Nike World Cup Ad  is the best commercial ever made!

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Safa have just announced that an Iron on Protea badge will be available for the Bafana Bafana replica jerseys for R20.

OK the whole Bafana Bafana jersey controversy has been bubbling over since the day that  Adidas revealed the new 2010 Bafana Kit. We have ended up with three different versions of the jersey, all selling for different amounts.

Iron on Protea Badges

According to the Safa website, Design-a-shirt will sell the Protea badges to all retailers which are selling the genuine Bafana replica jersey. The consumer then has the option of having the Protea badge professionally applied at retail or they can apply it themselves. The packaging of the Protea badge will have specific application instructions and disclaimers against incorrect usage. Design-a-shirt has a list of outlets where the Protea badge can be applied professionally using the correct process.

The iron on embroidered badge was put forward as the best solution to resolve the Protea issue, SAFA believes the restoration of the Protea emblem on the replica jersey will go a long way in consolidating support for the national team.

“We believe all South Africans would want to wear their jerseys with pride during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The Bafana replica jersey is the one thing that distinguishes us from the rest of the world and it is therefore important that our identity is authentic,” says Leslie Sedibe, Chief Executive of SAFA.

National Emblem

Now this may be a stupid question, but as the Protea is our national emblem, why were the shirts made without the Protea badge in the first place? With only the Adidas logo and the Bafana Bafana Logo.

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Went online to look for Bafana Bfana jerseys. No if you want to buy a Bafana Bafana Jersey, you need to know there are three kinds of Yellow Jerseys ( besides the ladies and children and standard version)

• Safa, Adidas and Protea
• Safa and Adidas logos
• Adidas logo

The one with three logos seems to be the most expensive.

There are also other Bafana Bafana Jerseys – a training  jersey, an away jersey…. and then the Bafana Bafana T-shirts.

So, fans have a choice of what to wear on Football Fridays!

Bafana Jerseys – Adidas Sponsor

According to jersey sponsors Adidas, South African and German teams spent two years designing the jersey, which includes the South African flag on the front and an African art print on the collar. There are two versions of the jersey, known as “Techfit skin-tight” and “Formotion”. Both include “climacool” technology, which helps to control sweating.

It is Bafana’s 16th new jersey in the last 11 years, and the team and its fans are hoping it contains a little magic for football’s biggest showpiece.

Bafana Bafana Home Shirt

At officalmerchandise.co.za I found  that I could get the Bafana Bafana Home shirt ( with all three badges) for R450 (US $61) and a Yellow Bafana Bafana T-shirt for R176 (US$24 )- I guess one has to add postage and packaging.

White Bafana Bafana Training Jersey

2010 World Cup Bafana Jerseys takes telephone orders, delivers by courier and insures worldwide. They have a whole range of Bafana Bafana jerseys. The green 2010 Bafana Bafana Away Jersey is on sale for only R649,00 the White Bafana Bafana 2010  Training Jersey is R599,00 and the yellow Bafana Bafana 2010 Jersey is R649 – (the one pictured has only one logo). Strangely enough the Yellow Ladies Jersey costs R100 more.

Buy Bafana Bafana Jerseys in Bulk

Try Bid or Buy and buy Bafana jerseys in bulk. Looks like there are pretty good bargains  -Bafana Jerseys in all kinds of combinations.

Images from bafana bafana jerseys

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