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Johannesburg - The World Cup gets underway with the eagerly-awaited, pivotal clash between Bafana Bafana and Mexico at Soccer City on Friday, June 11 - but it is the two previous days which could emerge as the flashpoint of the entire tournament.
This is the view of South African Football Association travel agent, Nazeer Camaroodien, who says on June 9 and 10 South Africa will be subjected to the likes of a population invasion it has never experienced before.
"I think on these two days alone," said Camaroodien, who with 37 other agencies will be handling the bulk of the fan explosion.
"There could be as many as 100 000 supporters worldwide arriving in the country - something like three or four times the number we have ever been required to deal with before."
"And," added Camaroodien, "it is how the various airports handle the invasion, the manner in which the fans are transported to their destinations without undue difficulties and the way in which the actual game attendances are sorted out that could determine the tone of the entire tournament."
However, Camaroodien, who now estimates a revised influx of 250 000 overseas visitors overall attending World Cup matches, remains confident that "Operation Flashpont" will run relatively smoothly.
"In fact," he added, "we had a trial, dry run at Johannesburg's Oliver Tambo Airport last week and it went relatively smoothly - with some valuable teething lessons learnt in the process."
"Handling the continuing arrival of the teams has been relatively straight-forward," said Camaroodien, "and Fifa and the Local Organising Committee have done a good job in getting the ball rolling.
"But organising the fans is something much bigger and largely out of their control," he added in anticipating that "Operation Flashpoint" could prove the supreme challenge facing what has been termed "the greatest sports show on earth."
"And adding to the complications that face the various organisations," said Camaroodien, "is the large number of fans who will be flying in on chartered flights - sometimes only for single matches - and then returning again as their preferred teams progress."
"I have just learnt that several such flights will be arriving from Greece on the day of Greece's opening game," he added, "leaving South Africa on the very next day."
