DANNY JORDAAN: “The World Cup is beginning to plant the seeds, serving as a glue to bind the nation. And nation building, social cohesion, is an important outcome for us in this World Cup. And we are quite happy with what we have seen thus far.”
BARBARA KLEIN: Like the Olympics, the World Cup provides a good reason to build roads, railways and airports to manage the flow of visitors. New or updated hotels and sporting centers are also part of the preparations.
The South African government has invested an estimated twelve billion dollars during the past four years. That includes major improvements to the airport in Johannesburg and a new one billion dollar airport in Durban.
New or improved sports centers are another part of the costly preparations. South Africa has updated its stadium at Soccer City near the Soweto area of Johannesburg. The improved center can hold more than ninety-four thousand screaming fans. The World Cup final will be held there on July eleventh.
Speaking in his native Spanish, Argentina’s coach and former player Diego Maradona praised the stadium.
DIEGO MARADONA (Voiceover): “This stadium means a lot. It is a splendid stadium such as is only seen in a few places on earth.”
BOB DOUGHTY: South Africa has also spent nearly two billion dollars to build five new stadiums, including one in the tourist center of Durban. A total of sixty-four matches will take place in ten stadiums around the country.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25