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| South Africa welcomes latest qualifiers for 2010 World Cup
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Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) -
Officials of the 2010 World Cup organising comm
ittee in South Africa have formally welcomed the eight new qualifiers for the gl
o
bal football competition.
After last weekend's round of qualifiers around the world, eight new teams won t
he ticket to travel to South Africa next year for the competition, joining 11 ot
h
ers which qualified earlier.
The new entrants are the USA, Cote d'Ivoire, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Mexico, I
taly and Chile.
They join Brazil, Ghana, Netherlands, Paraguay, Spain, England, North Korea, Sou
th Korea, Australia and Japan â" who had already booked their spots for the worl
d football spectacular â" as well as host South Africa, which qualified automati
cally, to make up the 19 qualified teams to date.
There are 13 more slots to be filled to make up the 32 teams that will play in t
he 2010 FIFA World Cup finals.
â?Not only are we excited about the number of teams that have qualified for 201
0 over the last weekend, but we are equally impressed with the calibre of teams
t
hat have now secured their place among the 32 competing in next yearâ?s World Cu
p,â? said Danny Jordaan, the Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 Local Organisin
g Committee.
On Cote d'Ivoire, which qualified after drawing 1-1 with Malawi on Saturday, Jor
daan said: â?It is an honour to welcome a team such as Cote dâ?Ivoire to South
Africa next year. They have proved themselves to be a strong football team and a
r
e one of the giants of African football. Their inclusion is a great benefit to t
h
e tournament and to African football.â?
On Germany, which beat Russia 1-0 to secure the ticket, the CEO said: â?Having
participated in almost every World Cup and being the host of the last tournament
,
it is a great honour to be able to host Germany next year in our country.
''They are strong contenders for the title and will be a great addition to the w
orld class lineup of teams coming over for 2010.â?
Jordaan also called the qualification of the US significant, with Americans havi
ng purchased the highest number of 2010 FIFA World Cup tickets outside of South
A
frica so far (82,603).
â?The USA has already enjoyed success playing in some of the stadiums that will
host the World Cup next year. Now that their team has confirmed their place in
t
he tournament I am sure we can expect a spike in the number of people from the U
S
A coming over to South Africa."
Over the next month, the rest of the 2010 FIFA World Cup hopefuls will be battli
ng it out for a position among the 32 World Cup participants.
On 4 December 2009, all 32 of the qualified teams will arrive in South Africa fo
r the Final Draw which will see them placed into their groups for the tournament
.
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| Cape Town - 12/10/2009 |
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