Beckham backs SA for 2010
21 May 2003
England captain David Beckham has come out strongly in support of South Africa's bid to host the 2010 Football World Cup. The England and SA soccer teams paid a visit to Nelson Mandela at his Johannesburg home ahead of their match in Durban on Thursday, a meeting described by the football superstar as "an amazing honour for all of us".
"I love South Africa", Beckham told The Star newspaper earlier. "I've been here before and I've always had a great time here. I think World Cups are a special moment for everyone ...
"To have it in a country like South Africa would be amazing. If I look after myself and treat my body right, I'd love to be here in 2010."
The meeting between Mandela, Beckham, South African captain Lucas Radebe and the two teams was carried live on Sky TV. Seated next to Mandela, Beckham said: "As England captain, it is a great honour for me, the manager, the FA, and the rest of the players to be here to meet a great man such as
you."
Beckham, sporting a new braided hairstyle, presented Mandela with an England shirt with "Mandela 03" printed on the back.
Mandela, who turns 85 this year, called on Britain to support South Africa's 2010 World Cup bid, which kicks off officially when England meet Bafana Bafana, SA's national team, at Durban's King's Park Stadium on Thursday.
"We make this appeal for the British people to be at the forefront in supporting our bid, and I'm sure you will do that", Mandela said. Later in the press conference, Mandela told Lucas Radebe: "I have a promise from David Beckham that he will support our bid. That alone gives us a great deal of hope."
Beckham told The Star that Thursday's match would be "a massive one" for both English and South African fans, adding that his team were not underestimating Bafana Bafana, and that he had great respect for his opposing captain, Leeds United's Lucas Radebe.
This is South Africa's second bid to host soccer's world
showpiece. South Africa lost its bid to host the 2006 finals by 12 votes to 11 to Germany, after New Zealand's Charles Dempsey abstained from voting as part of Fifa's executive.
Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour is confident that the country has what it takes to win the right to host the Cup - but says South Africa is not underestimating the bids of the other five African candidates: Tunisia, Nigeria, Egypt, Libya and Morocco.
"We will bid against them with the same intensity and drive as we would if we were up against any other country", Balfour told journalists earlier this year. "The government at all levels is right behind the bid, and we have shown already what we can do with the Cricket World Cup."
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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