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South Africa

Read of the Day: Studies on Hysteria

You could go to World Cup 2010 and write about xenophobia, corruption, poverty and theft…and still think the tournament was a triumph for South Africa, lose your mind when Landon Donovan scored. ”The beauty and torture of soccer fandom, I came to appreciate during South Africa 2010, is the way the game simultaneously titillates very different parts of the mind. [W]hile Freud was not right about many things, he was right that the human mind is fundamentally conflicted…while it may not have across in my posts, I loved every single day of my trip to South Africa. Loved it.” (Andrew Guest/Pitch Invasion)

(Image credit: Axel Bührmann/Flickr through a Creative Commons license.)

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Is the World Cup Forestalling Xenophobic Violence?

Assaults by South Africans against thousands of immigrants and refugees there from other African countries (such as Zimbabwe) have died down during the World Cup — but the targets of that violence fear matters could heat up again after the tournament is over. A cold irony, since South Africans found refuge in countries like Zimbabwe during apartheid. (David Gutnick/CBC-FIFA World Cup Blog)

South Africa: Where’s the Game?

Don’t hold your breath for the World Cup to hugely benefit South Africa’s soccer culture and infrastructure — in fact, it’s hard even now to find a game of ragball in greater Johannesburg. In Soweto, there are games, but also many broken promises of community football improvements from FIFA and the South African Football Federation. “The real choice seems to have involved shifting spending to the stadiums from spending on promised local initiatives (such as arts programs and community football).” (Andrew Guest/Pitch Invasion)

The Racism of Persistent Questioning?

South Africans are starting to lash out at the persistent questioning of the British press about that country’s fitness to host The World Cup. And British journalists are getting called out for it. “Any negative UK headline or story quickly snowballs on the web and leaves South Africans feeling vexed. In short, they want to know of me, why do you hate us?” (David Smith/The Guardian)

Going Platinum

With eight weeks to go before the World Cup, England’s South African headquarters are far from built — and far from anything, in the Royal Bafokeng Nation in the middle of North West province. Why? One word for you, son: Platinum. (Owen Slot/The Times)