The word legacy has become overused in sporting circles in recent times but having devoted the last 16 years of his life to bringing the World Cup to South Africa, Danny Jordaan intends to create just that.

A journey that began in 1994 when he attended the opening match of the 1994 World Cup in Chicago alongside Solomon 'Stix' Morewa and Kaizer Motaung is now nearing completion, with the stadiums ready to welcome the world in less than three months? time. After all the cynicism from those who questioned whether South Africa was fit to host the biggest sporting event on the globe, Jordaan has confounded the critics to deliver the country to the brink of history.

That is a remarkable achievement for a nation where even the World Cup Organizing Committee Chief Executive himself was denied the right to vote so recently. And as the spotlight falls on South Africa in June and July, Jordaan believes this opportunity could have an even more important effect than the role of a certain freedom fighter.

"We always said that a nation cannot only be built on the personality of one person - Nelson Mandela. You also have to engage the nation in the activity of something that they can share in and you have seen in the build up to this World Cup how people have embraced it," reflected Jordaan.

"I think it is the next generation that will remember this World Cup. They will participate, go to the fan parks and socialise with the people who come to visit. It?s also about the re-integration of this country because we were isolated for so long it will mean the people of our country get the chance to meet and celebrate with visitors from all over the world."

In typical Jordaan style, though, any thoughts of resting on his laurels post July 11 are the furthest thing from his mind. With his past as a civil rights campaigner, Jordaan is more interested in the future of his beloved country when the roadshow leaves town than basking in the glory of his own success.

"I think there are a lot of things that we have to do in South African football," he said.

"Clearly, we need investment in development structures and regular competition at different age groups so we can strengthen our youth sides. You find a situation where many of our players come into the Bafana Bafana team without ever having represented South Africa before - when you look at players in England, Germany and Brazil, by the time they come to the senior team they will have played many times at junior level. There?s something wrong with the feeder system and that is why we are spending 170 million putting 52 artificial pitches in every one of Safa's districts to actually provide in the true sense a level playing field."

Jordaan added: "If you look at the US World Cup, they invested heavily in youth football and since then they have qualified for every single World Cup since. The underlying reason for that is their players at grown up playing at under 17, under 19, under 21 and then at the Olympics so we have an opportunity to make a difference. It?s just a question of coming up with the right plan but the challenge is to have a team good enough to compete at the 2014 World Cup."

That does not mean he has already written off South Africa's chances of putting up a fight this year. Jordaan is hopeful Carlos Alberto Parreira can steer the side through a tough group containing Mexico, Uruguay and France although he doesn't expect them to feature in the latter stages of the tournament.

"The teams that will do well are Spain, England and Brazil but I think the Germans could surprise everyone. The good thing about this tournament is that we probably have all the best teams in the world so the quality should be very high."

After that first excursion in 1994, this will be Jordaan's fifth World Cup and he has vowed that he will be at the next one in Brazil but "not to work, only to watch and perhaps to advise".

Few could blame him for taking a back seat having achieved so much for South African football in the last decade and a half, although it is widely expected he will eventually return to Safa. The question of whether it will be as President or CEO provokes a comical response from a man who clearly isn't finished yet.

"Can I pick any one of the two? Those positions are both filled at the moment so I'll go away for a rest and decide. You must remember I was a member of Parliament as well so we'll see what happens. Give me time to finish the job then we'll talk," concluded Jordaan.