by Philip Cramer (contributing writer & South Africa correspondent)

It’s almost upon us. The dream that was so cruelly shattered by one abstention that gave Germany the cup in 2006 is now a reality. Despite the naysayers in Europe and sadly particularly among some soccer reporters in America who said the stadiums wouldn’t be ready, that the infrastructure was totally inadequate to host the cup, that there wasn’t enough accommodation and that there was too much crime.

They were wrong. Five new world class stadiums were built and another five were upgraded. The new stadiums in Durban and Cape Town are both quite spectacular as you will see once the games start.

Bafana, Bafana (boys, boys) the South African team were also written off as almost certain to be the first host team not to make it out of the first round with good reason. The team suffered a spell where they could barely beat even the weakest teams. In Africa, the World Cup and the African Nations Cup were combined into one competition. While South Africa were guaranteed qualification for the World Cup as hosts they couldn’t even qualify as one of the 16 teams for the Nations Cup.

The team was dispirited and it showed in their performances until they fired the previous coach Joel Santana and replaced him with another Brazilian, Carlos Alberto Parreira who coached Brazil (twice, with a win in ‘94), Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in previous world cups. He has assembled a South African team that is unbeaten in 11 games and should contend for a place in the second round.

Home advantage in a World Cup is enormous. Consider South Korea had a dismal record of ten losses, four draws and no wins in the finals before playing host when they made it to the semi final albeit aided by some awful refereeing. Another built in advantage will be the altitude. Johannesburg is at 5,700 feet where they face Mexico in the opening game while there other 2 games are at venues of over 4,000 feet. It’s now winter in South Africa so temperatures will be cool dropping into the 30’s at night. There will also be little or no rain except in Cape Town which is cool, rainy and windy in winter. This should help the European teams that are used to playing in cool conditions rather than the energy sapping hear often experienced at finals played in midsummer.

The passionate South African fans will be a huge ally especially with the ubiquitous vuvuzelas which Bafana love but drive foreign players insane. Some have complained they can’t hear each other on the pitch. I have no problem with that.

Parreira’s biggest achievement has been changing the way the team plays from too many individualists into a cohesive team that moves the ball in the midfield with quick sure passing. Their biggest weakness is up front where they will be without all time leading goal scorer Benni McCarthy who has had a love/hate relationship with Bafana. He arrived completely out of condition despite having just finished a Premier League season where he admittedly was injured for much of the time but he had obviously eaten one too many pies and was overweight.

Here is a breakdown of the key players:

In Goal:

Itumeleng Khune – a great young talent, acrobatic with a keen sense of finding the open man when he has the ball.

Defense:

Matthew Booth – the only white player on the team. Tall and bald, he reminds me of Peter Garrett, the lead singer from Midnight Oil. Imposing in the air and tough as nails is much loved by Bafana fans. You will hear what sounds like boos every time he touches the ball but it’s the crowd going Booooooooooooth.

Aaron Mokoena – Experienced captain who got his 100th cap recently. Tough with lots of Premier League experience but sometimes tends to give away unnecessary free kicks in vulnerable areas.

Tsepo Masilela – Solid reliable on defense and always willing to take the ball upfield down the side.

Sibosiso Gaza and Licas Thwala should also feature prominently.

Midfield:

Steven Pienaar – Everton player of the year and the engine of the team. Great distributor of the ball and a great sense of where everyone is. Creates a lot of goals but scores very few.

Siphiwe Tshabalala – Together with Pienaar, he drives the team. Hard worker, takes most of the corners and free kicks.

Teko Modise – One of the best locally based players coming off a mediocre season but has come on strong in training camp and in friendlies. Great ball skills and scores quite often except for the recent season.

Kagisho Dikgaco – plays for Fulham and is a strong defensive midfielder. Few get by him.

Macbeth Sibaya who plays for Russian champions Kazan and Surprise Moriri will also feature prominently. Thandyise Khuboni was virtually unheard of six months ago but played brilliantly in warm up games should also see some action off the bench.

Forwards:

Katlego Mphela – a rising talent who scored on a stunning free kick to tie Spain in the last minute at the Confederations Cup.

Bernard Parker – Plays for FC Twente, Dutch champions has a great nose for the goal but is sometimes erratic.

Siyabonga Nomvete.- a solid veteran who will need to be at his best. He will probably start most games on the bench.

Great Expectations:

To prepare for the World Cup, South Africa condensed their league season by two months so the locally based players have had three camps in Durban, Brazil and Germany to gel. Parreira has emphasized physical fitness and it shows in their recent performances in friendly games. Their spirits are sky high and the country has become besotted over the team. Local support should be worth at least a goal a game as long as their Achilles Heel up front doesn’t let them down. They have a tendency to take too many speculative long shots which can sometimes pay off in the thinner air at high altitude.

They have no easy games in their group and all three opponents are more than capable. They open against Mexico who does not always travel well and the problems with the Dos Santos brothers could be a distraction.

Uruguay is a useful team. The key is Diego Forlan. Close him down and Uruguay will struggle. Bafana’s last game is against France and with a bit of luck it and a couple of wins Bafana can have already secured a spot in the second round. France is a schizophrenic team that can be brilliant and can equally be awful. They needed luck and a horrible referee call to make it to the finals. They failed miserably in Korea and looked like they were going nowhere in Germany until they put it all together against Spain and then Brazil.

All in all it will be both an interesting and exciting group with the added flavor of Bafana being the home team. You will appreciate how boisterous and passionate their fans are.

Philip Cramer is a South Africa native who currently resides in California. He is the creator and voice of a must-read blog: ‘irritable liberal syndrome’.