Is Africa cursed?

MQINDISI DUBE | Wednesday June 16, 2010 00:00

Finest athletesWe salute Ghana's Black Stars for their heroic show in the 1-0 win over fancied Serbia on Sunday. Ghana became the first African side to bag three points after the usual heartache from four of the continent's representatives, although the host nation, South Africa managed a credible draw against Mexico.

Week's disappointmentAfrica has made a slow start to the 2010 World Cup hosted in the continent for the first time. Cameroon were the dictionary definition of embarrassment when they fell 1-0 to Japan on Monday. For the record, Japan had never won a competitive match outside their home country. Cameroon looked lethargic throughout the game and lacked a playmaker. Algeria, making their third appearance at the World Cup fell to nonentities, Slovenia on Sunday. Nigeria who have seen their performance nosedive over the years, predictably went down 1-0 to Argentina in a game in which they were supposed to pull out at least a draw.

Talking pointThe vuvuzela has made much noise on and off the field. There is an argument that the plastic instrument should be banned from soccer matches. South African fans have made it clear that the vuvuzela must stay while Local Organising Committee (LOC) CEO, Danny Jordan has hinted that if it hinders communication during play, it might be banned. Africans argue this is their unique way of celebrating and that they do not need anyone to prescribe how they should make noise during games. Some Europeans, including England defender, Jamie Carragher, have embraced the vuvuzela. But I think the noise levels should be acceptable because 90,000 fans blowing the vuvuzela can be deafening, which might even work against our African teams. What should be important though is that no one should come to Africa and dictate to us how we should celebrate.

The statTen million, the number of South African television viewers who watched the opening match between Mexico and the host country on Friday. This surpasses the previous record of 7.35 million who watched Brazil beat South Africa in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup last year

The quote'Maradona accepted the job as he needed work and needed the money. I saw how Argentina qualified with difficulty. But it is not Maradona's fault; it is the fault of those who put him in charge,' Brazilian legend, Pele firing a broadside at Maradona.