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Three
of the world's top football teams have chosen Johannesburg as their base camps
for the 2010 World Cup, and more are expected.
WITH
the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ final draw accomplished, three teams have so far
confirmed that they will be staying in Johannesburg during the tournament next
year.
Joburg will play host to Australia, Mexico and the Netherlands
These
are Netherlands, Mexico and Australia, according to Christa Venter, the City's
2010 operations director.
"The
three teams have confirmed their base camps but there may be more who are still
to decide to stay in the City for the duration of the World Cup. For safety and
security reasons, we cannot say at the moment where exactly these teams will be
staying," she says.
Netherlands,
one of Europe's top footballing nations, declared its intentions to set up base
in the city immediately after the draw in Cape Town on 5 December. The team is
the favourite to come out tops in Group E, in which they will play Denmark, Japan
and African football heavyweights Cameroon.
During
their World Cup qualifying games, the Oranje, as the Dutch team are
affectionately known, played eight games and won eight in Group 9 of the
European zone, making them a formidable force in their World Cup group.
The
Dutch are expected to bring along thousands of fans who will be easily
identified by their orange regalia.
Mexico,
the team that will kick off the World Cup on 11 June in the opening match
against Bafana Bafana at Soccer City Stadium, has also picked the city of gold
as their base.
Pitted
against South Africa, Uruguay and France in Group A, Mexico had a fine run
during their qualification in the World Cup finals. The team in green ended up
second after the United States in the final six-team round robin group in the
CONCACAF zone, disposing of teams like Costa Rica, El Salvador and Trinidad
& Tobago.
Mexico
are no stranger to qualifying for the World Cup - they have qualified 14 times,
more than any other side in the CONCACAF. Coached by Javier Aguirre, Mexico are
also expected to bring along thousands of sombrero-clad supporters to South
Africa.
After
a 32-year absence from the World Cup, Australia had a chance to get back on the
world stage in the 2006 edition of the football tournament in Germany.
Qualification for next year's tournament saw the Socceroos, as the Australian
team is known, impress in a 14-nation qualification campaign in Asia.
Australia
have participated in the championships twice and they will be hoping to better
their run this time around. In the last event, the Socceroos were knocked out
in the knock-out stages of the tournament.
Besides
the teams based in Johannesburg, the City's two host stadiums, Soccer City and
Ellis Park, will host 15 of the 64 matches of the competition; 10 of the 15
matches will be in the group stages.
Over
and above the group matches, the 88 000-seat Soccer City will host one match in
Round 16, one quarterfinal and the final match. Ellis Park, on the other hand,
will host one match in Round 16 and a quarterfinal.
Approximately
400 000 international football fans are expected to descend on South
Africa with a large chunk coming to Johannesburg for the 15 matches.
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