My interest in the World Cup has never been how Bafana Bafana progressed, because it has been inevitable, from the start, given their world rating, that they would not. I have always hoped that the countries that support South Africa in tourism the most, and are the most likely to do so should their teams continue to advance, are the ones that do best in the tournament! For example, North Korea patently does not have many supporters who can travel to South Africa, so it would hardly help us if they actually go on to make the final.

In short, I am hoping that countries like England, United States, Japan, etc all progress relatively far. Of course, for the nations that don’t progress that far, would still get considerable coverage of the country. I see the World Cup as the most expensive advertising campaign in the country’s history, and as long as the focus of that advertising is generally good, I believe that it will turn out to be financially worthwhile. If one really wants to see the importance of the World Cup and the coverage you get, you merely need to look at Sky News, CNN or even more arbitrary channels like Russia Today, to see the non-stop coverage at the moment of South Africa. Even if you are watching a major golf tournament in America, and I mean a major in the form of the US Open, the commentators will be going on about the World Cup in South Africa and how all the golfers are watching the World Cup games in the morning before playing their rounds in the afternoon.