Nelson Mandela

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Johannesburg - Nelson Mandela met with Bafana Bafana on Thursday, as the ANC said South Africa's most famous citizen will attend the World Cup's opening game and the final.

Mandela wore a yellow Bafana Bafana team jersey displaying on its front the number four of captain Aaron Mokoena when he appeared with players at his foundation in Johannesburg.

Also on Thursday, ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said Mandela will make a rare public appearance at next week's tournament opener, between the host country and Mexico, and the July 11 final. The announcement came amid worries the 91-year-old icon would be too frail to attend South Africa's biggest sporting event.

Madiba magic

"Madiba will grace both the opening and the closing of the World Cup," Mthembu said, using the traditional clan name by which Mandela is affectionately known in South Africa.

"We are very honoured to have an icon of Mandela's calibre to grace this important event. We are very happy that Madiba will come. The Madiba magic will add to the excitement."

A spokesperson at Mandela's foundation would not say if Mandela would attend next Friday's match, saying they do not disclose his schedule ahead of time for security reasons.
But Mandela's family insisted that he is too frail.

"I, together with the family, have taken the decision that with my grandfather being 92 years old, it would be real a challenge to take him out in a cold winters day to go and watch a game of football," grandson Mandla Mandela told AFP.

"We, as South Africans and the international community need to start considering his health. I really know that he'll not be at the opening match."

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Wednesday World Cup organisers desperately hoped Mandela would make the opening game. Blatter said the World Cup would not be the same without Mandela, and that his presence would be the "highlight" of the event.

The former president retired from public life in 2004, but made a surprise appearance last year at an ANC rally before the national election.

Mandela now makes very few appearances in public, but was photographed with the World Cup trophy last month.

He has been credited by FIFA as one of the architects of Africa's first World Cup. In December 2009, he recorded a video message on the significance of the event.

"We feel privileged and humbled that South Africa has been given the singular honour of being the African host country," Mandela said in the message. "We must strive for excellence in our hosting of the World Cup while at the same time ensuring that the event leaves a lasting benefit to all our people."

Met Bafana players

On Thursday, he was greeted by South Africa's most famous soccer players, who sang "Nelson Mandela there is no one like you," as he entered the room at his offices in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton.

Mokoena then introduced Mandela to the 1.98-metre-tall defender Matthew Booth, and said of Booth, "here is the tallest man in the building." Mandela himself is 1.94 metres tall.

Mandela has strong links to sport in South Africa after he famously appeared at the 1995 Rugby World Cup final wearing the green and gold jersey of the Springboks, the country's national rugby team. He had the number six of rugby captain Francois Pienaar on the back of his jersey that day, and South Africa went on to win the title.

A reputation for inspiring teams to victory with his presence, known as the "Madiba magic," was cemented when he wore a Bafana top ahead of their triumph in the 1996 African Cup of Nations - still South Africa's only major football achievement.