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Bittersweet legacy of the World Cup

THE 2010 Fifa World Cup, which was staged in Mzansi for the first time in its 90-year history, has left bitter and sweet memories for many people.

Though our world-class stadiums are turning into white elephants and several companies are finding themselves in financial ruin as a result of failed World Cup business concepts, the globe's unmatched sporting showpiece has left a lasting legacy among the people.

Hundreds of children born during this awesome spectacle will carry this legacy for many years to come.

For example, Guluva recently met the parents of a five-month-old boy named - and he kids you not - Sepp Blatter, after Fifa's president. It will be a while before we realise the full extent of this legacy as babies born during that period are still confined to their parents' spaces.

But Guluva is convinced that from this brood we'll soon hear names such as Diego, Forlan, Gyan, Dos Santos and Sneider being called out in the dusty streets of Khayelitsha, Zwelitsha, Thohoyandou, Siyabuswa, Seshego and Umlazi.

Knowing how passionate Mzansi parents are about a subject, particularly football, names such as World Cup, or even Twenty-Ten, cannot be ruled out.

Now, let's see how our own Sepp Blatter will fare in the 2020 or 2024 World Cup.

The Special One vs Zizou

Still on football, Guluva has never seen Jose Mourinho, the otherwise fearless and irrepressible coach of Spanish soccer giants Real Madrid, so scared.

Until now "The Special One", as he calls himself, believed he was the best thing to happen since sliced bread.

The Portuguese national had all along thought there was no one who could match his soccer coaching skills, which admittedly saw him catapult Chelsea to the top of English football and strengthen Inter Milan's position as one of the best sides in Italian and European football.

A failed footballer, Mourinho used his charm, the power of his motivational ability and sheer guts to entrench himself as one of the world's most successful coaches, though he has never coached at World Cup level.

He feared no one. Well, that was until recently when it was announced that Zinedine Zidane, one of the world's greatest footballers, was about to join the coaching staff of Real Madrid, where Zidane was a household name as a player a few years ago.

To say that Mourinho was rattled at the prospect of having real competition within his own coaching staff is an understatement. He was devastated. Reacting to the news of Zizou's imminent return to Real Madrid, "The Special One" said among other things: "[Zidane] is part of the heritage of football and of Real Madrid."

Decoded, this means Zidane is a dinosaur in professional football. In other words, whoever came up with the idea of employing him was out of his mind. That's vintage, but scared, Mourinho for you!

ONSIDE: Hats off to the City of London for its decision to grant Bafana Bafana captain Aaron Mokoena the freedom of the city. Though many South Africans have not yet forgiven him for gifting unnecessary free kicks that almost always resulted in goals, Mokoena is still a son of the soil.

OFFSIDE: The unexpected mass resignations of senior editorial staff at Mzansi's The New Rag and the newspaper's failure to hit the streets as promised - for the second time since it was first mooted - point to some unsavoury shenanigans in its top management.

E-mail Guluva on: Thatha.guluva@gmail.com

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