Goal For Bafana Bafana, Goal For South Africa, Goal For All of Africa

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was being hosted in the African continent for the first time. South Africa had the honor of being the hosts of the largest sporting event in the world, and as a result, the South African national team received an automatic qualifying spot. Bafana Bafana, the nickname for the South African national soccer team, were massive underdogs going into the tournament, surely not qualifying if not for the automatic spot that the team received. The South African team had the opening match against Mexico, who are a globally established soccer power. In their opening match, with the whole world watching, they did their nation and continent proud, drawing 1-1. Though they would not eventually qualify out of their preliminary group, the perfomance that they put in in their 1-1 opening match result as well as their historic 2-1 win against reigning champions France on the last matchday set the tone for what the nation and eventually the continent could accomplish.


Tsiphwe Tshabalala's goal v Mexico

Much like Bafana Bafana, many saw a South African hosted tournament as one that had the potential to disappoint. There were rumblings about the nations ability to host an event of this magnitude smoothly, rumblings to whether the stadiums will be completed in time, rumblings to whether the atmosphere will match up to past renditions. The tournament went without a hitch, which surprised many around the world, just like Bafana Bafana. Commentator Peter Drury covered the opening match, with his commentary on Tsiphwe Tshabalala's goal for South Africa, which is not only etched into the minds of soccer fans globally, but can also be used as descriptor of the tournament as a whole, "Goal for Bafana Bafana, goal for South Africa, goal for all of Africa.".