It?s four days since the Confederations Cup closed in a momentous night at Coca Cola Park, which has meant four days of celebrating an outstanding dress rehearsal for 2010, and a World Cup that even the Australians can?t argue looks set to be a raging success. Sepp Blatter almost smiled, international newspapers raved about South Africa, and Sky News even found room for a couple of fleeting platitudes in between Michael Jackson coverage; all in all, the planet is now well aware that our corner of Africa is primed for the finest World Cup ever.

But as pleasing as the logistical excellence of the event was ? I watched games at Loftus and Coca Cola Park, and both went off with an almost eerie smoothness ? it was the actual football that delighted even more. I watched Sunday?s final with Andy Jury, who had a promising amateur career before injury cut it short, and Pablo Solsona, the Argentinean who played briefly for Real Madrid, and who had flown out in anticipation of a Spain-Brazil final. Discovering the United States were contesting the trophy instead might have been an initial disappointment, but the two games that ended the tournament were majestic advertisements for the beautiful game, as both my footballing cohorts agreed, and the third place play-off might just be the best game of football we?ll see this year.

The Rustenberg game was one South Africa deserved to win, but the cruel defeat, the second in successive matches, didn?t take the gloss off a performance that confirmed this is a South African team on the rise. Watching Bafana play has become a joy where once it was a chore, and matches now await with enthusiasm and promise, rather than a sinking sense of dread. If the Brazil game showed our potential, then the Spain defeat confirmed it, and any team drawn in South Africa?s group next year will be understandably nervous.

The same applies to the United States, who spent the first 45 minutes exhibiting rigid formation and perfect discipline, their 4-4-2 a geometric marvel that stifled the carefree flair of Brazil. It needed a performance of a difference class from the Brazilians in the second half to show that they are the better team; that the USA brought that out of their final opponents is a tribute to the calibre of a fast improving, hard working team that put one half of a flourishing seal on a fine Confederations Cup.

Sitting next to a slightly inebriated South American spending 90 minutes teaching himself to play the vuvuzela added to the occasion of a colourful night of football celebration, where the game rather than the actual teams where the chief object of support. Brazilian and American flags flew throughout the night, certainly, but the majority of the crowd were simply revelling in the occasion, and what it meant to the country. The stage is set for the World Cup, and we?re more than ready; if the football of the next fortnight is anything to go by, we?re in for even more of a treat than we realised.

  • Speaking of Bafana, this week?s Dan Nicholl Report features Bernard Parker, one of the tournament stars; have a listen if you?re at a loose end. And catch myself and Darren Scott broadcasting the new Bok TV from Montecasino on Friday night, going out on SuperSport ? perfect material for a quiet, romantic evening on the couch...

  • Contact Dan at dan@metropolis.co.za