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Johannesburg - Partly due to the fact that a majority of games will be played in the province and also to acclimitise to high altitude conditions, a majority of World Cup squads have plumped for Gauteng as their base camps and training venues.

The finalised list of base camps and training venues released by FIFA shows that 19 of the 32 World Cup participants have chosen Gauteng, with only three in the Western Cape - none of them in Cape Town itself - and the remainder spread round KwaZulu-Natal (five), the North West Province (three), and one each in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga.

Among the more high-profiled nations who will be based in Gauteng are five-time champions Brazil, The Netherlands, current holders Italy, Argentina, Germany, Portugal, Mexico, Ivory Coast, Australia, United States and hosts South Africa.

While the unsettled Bafana Bafana have switched to Wits University's Sturrock Park after earlier negotiating to use the Sandown High School as their training ground, a surprisingly large number of teams will use school grounds as their basic training venues - including charismatic Brazil, who have chosen the Randburg High School, Italy, Portugal, Mexico and Slovenia.

World Cup media manager Jermaine Craig explained none of the much-vaunted and expensively refurbished World Cup training venues such as the Rand Stadium, Dobsonville Stadium, Orlando Stadium, Athlone Stadium and the Super Stadium had been earmarked as base training venues for any of the 32 participants because they would be categorised as "open grounds" made available to all the teams playing games in their particular areas.

"If France, for example, who are based in the Western Cape," added Craig, "have to travel to Gauteng for a game, or Nigeria, who have scheduled KwaZulu-Natal as their headquarters, are playing in the Johannesburg area, they could make use of the Rand Stadium, Dobsonville or Orlando Stadium."

World Cup bases for the 32 finalists:

Gauteng:
Argentina - High Performance Centre
Australia - Kloofzicht Lodge
Brazil - The Fairway
Germany - Velmore Hotel
Ghana - Rhoode Valley
Honduras - The Indaba Hotel
Italy - Leriba Lodge
Ivory Coast - Riverside Hotel & Conference
Mexico - Thaba Ya Batswana
Netherlands - Hilton Sandton
New Zealand - Serengeti Estate
North Korea - Protea Hotel Midrand
Portugal - Valley Lodge
Serbia - Sunnyside Park Hotel
Slovakia - The Villas Luxury Suite Hotel
Slovenia - Hyde Park Southern Sun
South Africa - Grayston Sun Hotel
Switzerland - Emerald Resort & Casino
United States - Irene Country Lodge

KwaZulu-Natala:
Algeria - Zimbali Lodge
Cameroon - Oyster Box
Greece - Beverly Hills Hotel
Nigeria - Hampshire
Paraguay - Woodridge Country Estate

Western Cape:
Denmark - Simola Hotel Country Club
France - Pezula Resort Hotel & Spa
Japan - Fancourt Hotel & Country Club

North West:
England - Bafokeng Sports Campus
South Korea - Hunters Rest Hotel
Spain - NWU Campus

Northern Cape:
Uruguay - Protea Hotel

Mpumalanga:
Chile, Ingwenyama Conference Centre