Because of the advantage of training at high altitude, Gauteng is definitely favoured. The Australian team – the Socceroos –will base themselves at the Kloofzicht Lodge in the Zwartkops Mountains between Johannesburg and Pretoria. About a 45 minutes drive from both cities, they will be close to the Cradle of Humankind. For training, they will [...]

2010 Match Schedule
GROUP A  1. South Africa  2. Mexico 3. Uruguay 4. France
11 June  – Jhb Soccer City  South Africa – Mexico @  16:00
11 June  – CT Green Point  Uruguay – France @  20:30
16 June  – PTA  Loftus Versfeld Soutth Africa – Uruguay @ 20:30
17 June  – Polokwane Peter Mokaba France – Mexico @ [...]

The 90-minute ceremonyfor the long-awaited draw for the 2010 World Cup starts at 7pm tonight. The ceremony will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre and it seems the live broadcast will start at 6.30 pm?   Amidst all the politics, hype , glitz and spin, there will be appearances by some great African performers. The [...]

Cape Argus Cycle Race:  14 March
Human Rights Day:  21 March
Public Holiday:  22 March
School Holidays:  27 Mar – 11 Apr
Good Friday: 02 April
Two Oceans Marathon:  03 Apr
Family Day:  05 April
Freedom Day:  27 Apr
Workers Day:  01 May
Comrades Marathon:  30 May
Youth Day:  16 June
Grahamstown Festival:  20 Jun – 08 July
Durban July:  03 Jul
School Holidays 10 June – 11 [...]

The 32 teams for the 2010 World Cup Finals:
EUROPE ZONE  England,  Spain, The Netherlands, Italy, Serbia , Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, Greece *France *Portugal *Slovenia *  (* secured a place via the play-off’s.)
ASIA ZONE Australia, DPR Korea, Japan, Korean Republic.
AFRICA ZONE  South Africa (Hosts), Algeria *Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana.
SOUTH AMERICA ZONE:  Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, [...]

The Confed cup went very well with Sepp Blatter ending up giving SA’s event a 7/10. One of the big criticisms was the transport to and from the stadiums and this was without the difficulties of getting from A to B without your own vehicle.  But things are happening to change this: 
Rapid Rail or Gautrain
Construction [...]

Had several Lions supporters stay over the week-end. What great guys and what sportsmanship – not a whinge about the last minute victory for the South Africans.  Appropriately also had a visit from Paul Smith  who wrote ‘Great Moments of Sportmanship’ and will be interviewed by John Robbie on Talk Radio 702 on Wednesday.  Paul’s website is www.GreatMomentsOfSportsmanship.com . Take [...]

Getting around Joburg: what are the present options? 
Minibus taxis
Introduced throughout South Africa in 1977, these 15-seater minibuses grew into a massive virtually unregulated industry. As their name suggests, they are more akin to small buses than to traditional taxis or cabs which either roam or are called to a destination (see metered taxis below).  Because [...]

Getting around Joburg : overview
Getting from A to B or more importantly from your B&B to THE game, has been much in the news of late with some horrendous stories about traffic chaos getting to Confed Cup games. Massive changes are in process at the moment – but none of them were ready in time [...]

 
Much of the talk on Radio 702 yesterday focused on the vuvuzelas at the Confederation Cup soccer games and it seems there are polarized opinions of them – people either love `em or hate `em.  FIFA’s initial concerns about the vuvuzela (probably influenced as much by their potential for competitive advertising, as by the loud cacophony [...]