EVANS MALATULA
In less than 80 days from now, more than 700 soccer stars from 31 foreign countries will be visiting South Africa. They will be here for the 2010 FIFA World Cup which will take place from 11 June to 11 July 2010. Amongst the visitors, there will also be famous footballers who play in the best soccer leagues, including the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga. South Africans will have the opportunity to watch some of their favourite football icons play on the African continent for the first time. Pretoria will play host to five of the 31 teams for both accommodation and training facilities. Perdeby decided to go find out who is going to be in town for the World Cup.
The University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre will be hosting Argentina. The two-time world champions will be using the facilities at the HPC and will be training at the LC de Villiers sports fields. Three-time world champions Germany will be residing in Centurion. The Germans have booked the Vellmore Hotel to be their home during the World Cup. Defending champions, Italy, will also be hosted by the “city of champions”. The four-time world champions will be using the Leribe Lodge in Centurion as their home.
One of the 2009 Confederation Cup finalists, USA, will also be staying in Pretoria. The eight-time World Cup qualifiers will be residing at Irene Court Lodge. Last but not least is Slovakia, who are also eight-time World Cup qualifiers. The Slovakians will be using The Villas Luxury Suite Hotel as their temporary home for the tournament.
If you are going to be around Pretoria during the World Cup, make sure you keep your eyes open and don’t forget your pen or marker because you don’t know who you might come across.
