Tournament News
Jordaan: Bafana won our hearts
2010-06-23 14:05
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Johannesburg - Danny Jordaan spoke on behalf of South Africa on Tuesday night
when he revealed his pride in Bafana Bafana despite their exit from the
Soccer World Cup.
Carlos Alberto Parreira's men beat France 2-1, but it was not
enough to guarantee their progress to the next round - the first time a
host nation has failed to reach the knockout phase.
But despite this, South Africans remain united for the national team, according to the LOC chief executive.
"Bafana Bafana are out of the World Cup but they won the hearts
and minds of all South Africans and the whole world tonight (Tuesday
night)," he said.
"Yes they did not make it past the group stage but they did what
the country asked of them - they played with pride, passion, skill and
commitment, they gave their best.
"They did the national team jersey and every single South
African proud and we want to thank them for what they've done for this
country."
Jordaan also thanked South Africans for the tremendous support they have shown for the national team.
"The passion and enthusiasm we have seen across the length and
breadth of South Africa in recent weeks has made this tournament truly
come alive for locals and visitors alike," he added.
Jordaan does not believe that South Africa's exit will affect the overall success of the tournament.
"It may be over for Bafana Bafana but it is not over for South
Africa. This is still South Africa's World Cup. We are not going home,
the World Cup is happening in our home," he said.
"South Africans have already proven their support for Team South
Africa. Without millions of them we would not have delivered ten
world-class stadiums, opened new airports, highways and train stations
in record time or welcomed hundreds of thousands of new visitors to our
country.
"We would not have already hosted more than half of the World Cup matches successfully," he explained.
"I remain confident that South Africans will continue to be
fantastic hosts for the next two and a half weeks and make the most of
this incredible time in our country's history, which has already seen
us achieve so much," said Jordaan.
Jordaan said that support for the tournament to date has met all
expectations with a total of 1 570 447 people attending the first 32
matches (an average of 49 076).
More than a million people have watched the matches at the ten
FIFA Fan Fests in South Africa and hundreds of thousands more have
watched the games in public viewing areas around the country, with
World Cup matches also shattering television audience records in the
country.