World Cup fans worried over plastic 2010 South Africa Fifa World Cup NEWS CENTRE May 30, 2010

Football fans heading to the World Cup in South Africa have been warned not to take excess cash after research revealed many do not trust plastic.

More than third (37%) are more worried about the security of their cards overseas than at home, a survey found.

As a result around seven out of 10 people stuff their pockets full of cash to minimise their chances of falling foul of credit card fraudsters.

Tens of thousands of Britons are expected to travel to South Africa during the month-long tournament, which kicks off on June 11.

David Divitt of electronic payments company ACI Worldwide, which commissioned the YouGov poll, warned that wads of banknotes can attract trouble.

He said: "Taking South Africa as a topical destination of choice, the use of cash as a bank card replacement defies all logic. There are numerous risks in carrying sums of banknotes around and the fact that more than two-thirds of consumers using their cards overseas take this course of preventative action is very concerning.

"Our advice to people is to use cards but use them sensibly, taking the appropriate precautions."

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Soccer: All Whites' win greatest ever, says Herbert

Serbia 0 All Whites 1

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert was elated about his team's 1-0 victory over Serbia today, labelling it the best win in New Zealand soccer history.

A Shane Smeltz goal in the 22nd minute was enough to secure victory over Serbia, the world's 15th-ranked team, in the World Cup warm-up friendly in Klagenfurt, Austria.

"For us it's a fantastic result, it's the best we've ever had in the history of the game, to beat a team at that level," Herbert said.

The victory trumped New Zealand's unforgettable World Cup qualifying win over Bahrain in Wellington last November.

"It's going to take a bit to take away the euphoria of November 14 but I think playing a team ranked that high in the world and to beat them here is a terrific result," he said.

New Zealand, ranked 78th in the world, were heavy underdogs entering the match, so the result let the soccer world know the All Whites were a force to be reckoned with, he said.

"I think around the world it's probably going to send a few little messages."

The All Whites were without vice-captain Tim Brown, who underwent surgery on a fractured shoulder last week, and key striker Chris Killen, who missed the game in order to get married, but still created goalscoring opportunities.

"It's showing the depth of the squad," Herbert said.

"We're always likely to score now, whoever we play."

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World Cup 2010: Free Visas For Ticket Holding Visitors

World Cup visitors are set to get preferential treatment in South Africa and their movement will be simplified with free visas.

With the FIFA World Cup fever spreading around the globe, the host country South Africa is on track to issue free visas to football fans and process the thousands of visitors expected in the country next month according to Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

While addressing the Joint Committees on the State of Readiness for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Minister said FIFA employees were being awarded visas and that as of Sunday the department had issued 3500 work permits.

Those with World Cup tickets are set to be awarded free visas and dedicated lanes are being set aside for those going to the tournament. Specific branded lanes are in the process of being set up at King Shaka in Durban, Cape Town International Airport and at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. FIFA delegations and teams are set to be given priority treatment, Dlamini-Zuma told BuaNEWS.

The department was also training volunteers to work at the airports in assisting visitors.

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World Cup Match Schedule - 21 May 2010

Group A Match Date - Time Venue Results

1 11/06 16:00 Johannesburg - JSC South Africa Background Mexico
2 11/06 20:30 Cape Town Uruguay Background France
17 16/06 20:30 Tshwane/Pretoria South Africa Background Uruguay
18 17/06 20:30 Polokwane France Background Mexico
33 22/06 16:00 Rustenburg Mexico Background Uruguay
34 22/06 16:00 Mangaung / Bloemfontein France Background South Africa

Group B Match Date - Time Venue Results

3 12/06 16:00 Johannesburg - JEP Argentina Background Nigeria
4 12/06 13:30 Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth Korea Republic Background Greece
19 17/06 16:00 Mangaung / Bloemfontein Greece Background Nigeria
20 17/06 13:30 Johannesburg - JSC Argentina Background Korea Republic
35 22/06 20:30 Durban Nigeria Background Korea Republic
36 22/06 20:30 Polokwane Greece Background Argentina

Group C Match Date - Time Venue Results

5 12/06 20:30 Rustenburg England Background USA
6 13/06 13:30 Polokwane Algeria Background Slovenia
22 18/06 16:00 Johannesburg - JEP Slovenia Background USA
23 18/06 20:30 Cape Town England Background Algeria
37 23/06 16:00 Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth Slovenia Background England
38 23/06 16:00 Tshwane/Pretoria USA Background Algeria

Group D Match Date - Time Venue Results

7 13/06 20:30 Durban Germany Background Australia
8 13/06 16:00 Tshwane/Pretoria Serbia Background Ghana
21 18/06 13:30 Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth Germany Background Serbia
24 19/06 16:00 Rustenburg Ghana Background Australia
39 23/06 20:30 Johannesburg - JSC Ghana Background Germany
40 23/06 20:30 Nelspruit Australia Background Serbia

Group E Match Date - Time Venue Results

9 14/06 13:30 Johannesburg - JSC Netherlands Background Denmark
10 14/06 16:00 Mangaung / Bloemfontein Japan Background Cameroon
25 19/06 13:30 Durban Netherlands Background Japan
26 19/06 20:30 Tshwane/Pretoria Cameroon Background Denmark
43 24/06 20:30 Rustenburg Denmark Background Japan
44 24/06 20:30 Cape Town Cameroon Background Netherlands

Group F Match Date - Time Venue Results

11 14/06 20:30 Cape Town Italy Background Paraguay
12 15/06 13:30 Rustenburg New Zealand Background Slovakia
27 20/06 13:30 Mangaung / Bloemfontein Slovakia Background Paraguay
28 20/06 16:00 Nelspruit Italy Background New Zealand
41 24/06 16:00 Johannesburg - JEP Slovakia Background Italy
42 24/06 16:00 Polokwane Paraguay Background New Zealand

Group G Match Date - Time Venue Results

13 15/06 16:00 Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth Côte d'Ivoire Background Portugal
14 15/06 20:30 Johannesburg - JEP Brazil Background Korea DPR
29 20/06 20:30 Johannesburg - JSC Brazil Background Côte d'Ivoire
30 21/06 13:30 Cape Town Portugal Background Korea DPR
45 25/06 16:00 Durban Portugal Background Brazil
46 25/06 16:00 Nelspruit Korea DPR Background Côte d'Ivoire

Group H Match Date - Time Venue Results

15 16/06 13:30 Nelspruit Honduras Background Chile
16 16/06 16:00 Durban Spain Background Switzerland
31 21/06 16:00 Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth Chile Background Switzerland
32 21/06 20:30 Johannesburg - JEP Spain Background Honduras
47 25/06 20:30 Tshwane/Pretoria Chile Background Spain
48 25/06 20:30 Mangaung / Bloemfontein Switzerland Background Honduras

More info here

The Joy of Six: Things we miss about the World Cup

France's Dominique Rocheteau takes on a Hungarian defender at the 1978 World Cup, while wearing the strip of local club Kimberley. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images


The Joy of Six: Things we miss about the World Cup

1) The Goddess of Victory

There's nothing particularly wrong with the Fifa World Cup™ Trophy. As five-kilo dods of solid 18-carat gold with two malachite layers go, it's as serviceable as they come. But just look at the name of it again. The Fifa World Cup™ Trophy. A functional and corporate monicker betraying a complete lack of invaluable – and dear God how they'd love to buy some of this – old-school glamour.


By comparison, the original trophy – French sculptor Abel Lafleur's The Goddess of Victory, a solid-silver-with-gold-plate statuette of Greek goddess Nike on a lapis lazuli stand – boasted 14 inches of hopelessly exotic old-time sass. It spent the entire second world war hidden from the fascists in a shoebox under an Italian FA administrator's bed. It was stolen in London in 1966, only to be found under a bush by a mangy dog possessing more brain cells than the entire Met. It looked great. And there it is, an inanimate Zelig, present and compliant at all of football's greatest moments, happy to be cradled in the brave hands of Obdulio Varela, Fritz Walter, Bobby Moore, Carlos Alberto, still gleaming.


But the Fifa World Cup™ Trophy especially can't compete with the mystical beauty of Coupe Jules Rimet – it was renamed after the competition's founder in 1946 – because, well, it's been tragically lost to us for ever, melted down by goons for coins. When the trophy went walkabout pre-Pickles in 1966, a spokesman for the Brazilian FA opined that such larceny "would never have happened in Brazil. Even Brazilian thieves love football and would never commit this sacrilege." Oh dear.


After Brazil received the cup permanently in 1970, only one thing was ever going to happen. It was put on permanent display in a bullet-proof glass-and-wooden case in the foyer of the Brazilian Football Federation's HQ in Rio de Janeiro, where it sat peacefully for 13 years. Until, on the evening of 19 December 1983, burglars entered the building and hacked through the wooden back of the cabinet with a crowbar. This time Pickles, having hung himself by his own lead in 1971 while chasing a cat, was not around to sniff it out. Coupe Jules Rimet was never found, commonly thought to have been melted down. For coins. By goons.


"It is not the fault of the thieves but of the authorities," suggested Pele, who'd gamboled about with the thing three times, practically attached to it. "The people are desperate, without money and without food." For a man often knocked for his relentless corporate shilling, it's a quote worth remembering; a generous – humane and leftist – response from someone who surely felt a solid-silver sliver die inside.

Read all SIX here

World Cup 2010: Will you be watching?

Up to three million fans are expected to attend the games in South Africa The 2010 World Cup finals kick off in South Africa on 11 June. Will you be following your team at home or at the tournament?

The one-month long competition is the biggest sporting event ever to be hosted on African soil.

Up to three million people are expected to watch the 32 teams competing in South Africa, with billions watching on television worldwide.

Are you one of them? How do you plan to watch the World Cup? What preparations are you making ahead of the competition? What is your team?



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Review: 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa 21 May, 2010

Football fans eagerly awaiting the first World Cup match can get a world-class game fix right now with the the release of the latest installment in the 2010 FIFA World Cup game series.

From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa features 199 participating nations and even lets fans rewrite history by changing the final tournament line up if they so choose.

Visual and audio effects are a real highlight as every match really looks, feels and sounds like a real Cup game. English commentary by Clive Tyldesley and Andy Gray is outstanding, giving an authentic feel to the game together with roaring fans and confetti-lined fields.

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FIFA to reconsider World Cup ticket sales May 21 2010

JOHANNESBURG, May 21 (Xinhua) -- After FIFA's online ticket sales system proved to be overly complicated for large number of South African soccer fans, football's world governing body is considering a change of the way to sale FIFA World Cup tickets.

The cost of tickets could also be reconsidered with the high prices contributing to keeping away fans, not just South Africans but those from the rest of Africa as well, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke told reporters in Johannesburg on Thursday.

After slow sales for this year's World Cup in South Africa, FIFA introduced over-the-counter sales, which proved to be highly effective.

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