World Cup 2010: Stadiums – Part 1
All eyes will be on South Africa next year. Less than a year from now South Africa will host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This will be the 19th World Cup tournament held in history. The first World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay. South Africa will be the first African country in history to host the FIFA World Cup and only the 2nd country in history to have hosted the Cricket, Rugby and Soccer World Cups (a truly remarkable achievement). Today we will be covering 2 of the venues where the games will be played in next year’s competition. The 2010 FIFA World Cup promises to be showcase of world class soccer (or football for the British out there who despises the word). It will only be right to have these games take place in world class stadiums. Construction of new stadiums and upgrades to existing stadiums has been steadily progressing over the last 2-3 years and is nearing completion. The games for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be played in 10 different stadiums, all around South Africa.
Green Point Stadium: Situated in the city of Cape Town, in the Western Cape province of South Africa, this stadium will host one of the Semi-Final games in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Green Point Stadium is being upgraded currently and construction should be complete by December 2009. The stadium should be able to seat +/- 70,000 people and have a retractable roof when upgrades are finished. Cape Town has another stadium which is primarily used for rugby games, Newlands. Green Point Stadium will probably house local professional football outfit, Ajax Cape Town after the tournament. This truly promises to be a remarkable venue and promises to be a stadium that will be admired, enjoyed and remembered by spectators.
Related Links:
Green Point Stadium – Visitor’s Center Website
Green Point Stadium, Cape Town – Cyber Cape Town
Green Point Stadium, Cape Town – SA Venues
Green Point Stadium – Wikipedia
Moses Mabhida Stadium: This stadium is currently under construction in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in Durban which is situated in the Kwazulu Natal province of South Africa. In late 2006 the old Kings Park Soccer stadium was demolished to make space for this stadium. The Moses Mabhida Stadium will have a seating capacity of 70,000 and was designed to be a multi-purpose venue and amphitheatre. This stadium will feature a massive 350 m long free and 105 m high span arch will hold up the roof. The top of the arch will rise to 106 m above the pitch. The arch will consist of 5 x 5 m steel hollow box and will weigh 2,600 tons. Visitors will be carried from the North side to a viewing platform at the top of the arch by a funicular and enjoy breathtaking, panoramic views of the nearby city and ocean. There will be a 550 step adventure walk on the South side. The stadium is named after a former commander and recruiter of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC (African National Congress). This Moses Mabhida Stadium will be the crown jewel of the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in the shadow of the ABSA Stadium, home of the local rugby team, The Sharks. This stadium will host one of the semi-final games in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Related Links:
Moses Mabhida Stadium – Wikipedia
Moses Mabhida Stadium – SA Venues
Moses Mabhida Stadium – Ethekwini Online
I’m sure that there will be plenty of persons advertising their properties, services and goods in the classifieds or other publications in order to attract tourists and visitors (if they have not started to do so already). The 2010 FIFA World Cup is bound to bring economical upliftment to the people of Cape Town and Durban which will be good for South Africa in general.
Metrorail operates a commuter rail service in Durban and the surrounding area. The Metrorail network runs from Durban Station outwards far Stanger at the north coast, Kelso at the south coast, and Cato Ridge inland.