South Africa hosts the first World Cup on the continent. Spain win it. The vuvuzela is the sound; the fact of the host is the history.
FIFA puts the World Cup in Africa. Johannesburg, Cape Town, a stadium in Durban that looks like a sculpture. Spain win a grim, great tournament 1-0 in extra time. Iniesta. The vuvuzela drives television mad. The crowds do not.
Critics talked infrastructure and crime. The tournament happens. African football’s shop window is a host, not only a generation of players in European clubs.
Mandela appears, briefly, in a coat. The sporting politics of 1995 rugby meet 2010 soccer on the same soil. Spain take the trophy. The continent keeps the date.