FIFA world cup 2010 south africa inauguration ceromony

2010 WORLD CUP FINALS venue south africa. FIFA world cup 2010 will be start 11 june and will be finish 11 july.South africa arrange biggest football tournament on the world which gets under way on friday in johannesburg.Johannesburg's 94,000-capacity Soccer City hosts the opening ceremony, with the first game getting under way at 1500 BST when South Africa face Mexico.president Nelson Mandela is set to attend part of the festivities. He will be present on Friday, but will not attend the entire opening game.The World Cup kicks off with a 40-minute opening ceremony at Soccer City starting at 1300 BST.The global TV audience for the tournament will be made up of viewers in more than 215 countries and will run into hundreds of millions."South Africa has come alive, and will never be the same after this World Cup," said Zuma. The World Cup dedicate Nelson Mandela.The festivities begin in earnest on Thursday, with Shakira among the artists at a pre-tournament concert in Soweto from 1900 BST that is expected to draw 30,000 fans.The Colombian pop star will perform the official World Cup song Waka Waka and will be joined by a cast of international stars, including the Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keys, alongside African stars Amadou & Mariam and Hugh Masekela.There are 64 games in total, with the final taking place at Soccer City on Sunday, 11 July.There have been concerns about ticketing policy and security in the run-up to the tournament.Football's world governing body has made a number of tickets exclusively available to South Africans and announced on Wednesday that 97% of the 3.1m tickets had been sold, allaying fears of empty stadiums.Fifa president Sepp Blatter insists the World Cup will be a success. "Everywhere, one can feel, I hope, that this World Cup is very special, the first on African soil," he said. "We find ourselves in a position of indescribable anticipation."More importantly, this competition will prove that South Africa, and the African continent in general, is capable of organising an event of this magnitude."Some of the world's best players will be on display in South Africa, among them Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.But some big names will be missing because of injury, such as England duo Rio Ferdinand and David Beckham, Germany skipper Michael Ballack and Ghana midfielder Michael Essien.

Player for player, there is no better national team than ours

world champions in 1978 and 1986, were far from impressive in qualifying for this year's event and are not considered one of the main favourites to lift the Trophy.Messi was warned against underestimating his side, saying in Clarin: "Player for player, there is no better national team than ours".Lionel Messi feels that, man for man, there are no better teams than Argentina at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.Much is now expected of the 22-year-old in the FIFA World Cup, but Messi has shrugged that off, saying: "At this stage I don't have to prove anything. I've come there to do things well for me and for my team-mates."

My dream is to win the World Cup with Argentina :said Messi

"I don't think I've reached my peak yet," Messi says, his appetite for success undiminished. "My dream is to win the World Cup with Argentina and then to go and repeat what we've achieved at Barcelona, and to keep on going after that. My aim is to keep improving day by day. I want to keep on growing, I want to learn the things I don't know and to keep working on the things I do know so that I don't forget them."At Germany 2006 he became the youngest ever Argentina player to score a FIFA World Cup finals goal, although he spent most of a frustrating tournament on the bench.I know I'm going to have more responsibility and more opportunities, but I'm just as excited and as keen as I was the last time. We are very confident we can have a good World Cup and lift the Trophy.""The fact is I'm relaxed," he continues, shrugging off the obvious pressure that comes with wearing Argentina's No10 jersey. "I didn't go looking for any of this and I haven't tried to create any of it. The same thing happened to me in Barcelona and things have gone really well for me there. I hope I can play with the same style and character for the national side."

Argentina names 23-man squad for FIFA world cup 2010

Argentina coach Diego Maradona named his final 23-man squad for the World Cup on Wednesday, which includes Lionel Messi of Barcelona, Carlos Tevez of Manchester City and most of the country's other big stars.The big surprise defender Ariel Garce played his first international match for Argentina.The list released on Wednesday includes tremendous power up front, led by Messi, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar), Mariano Andujar (Catania), Diego Pozo (Colon).

Defenders: Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Walter Samuel (Inter Milan), Gabriel Heinze (Marseille), Nicolas Burdisso (AS Roma), Ariel Garce (Colon), Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes).

Goalkeepers: Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Javier Pastore (Palermo), Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool), Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina).

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City), Diego Milito (Inter Milan), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors).

source by ibnlive.in.com