South African Siphiwe Tshabalala recounts his 2010 World Cup and beyond

Text by: Noé Hochet-Bodin Follow

On June 11, 2010, the whole Earth has its eyes fixed on Africa. The first African Football World Cup begins in Johannesburg. Pride for the rainbow nation, and for the entire continent. Ten years later, what remains of this 2010 World Cup? Has it helped develop football in South Africa? Has it also helped to change a society that is still very fractured? The tournament's top scorer, Siphiwe Tshabalala, national hero, tells the story.

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This evening in June 2010, Siphiwe Tshabalala becomes a national hero. The small striker, recognizable by his dreadlocks and his number 8 in the back, delivers all of South Africa by scoring the first goal of the Football World Cup. "  It was an incredible atmosphere that day ," he says. It has always been part of our culture to have party moods and vuvuzelas. So I was not surprised when the stadium started to boil after my goal  ”.

Tshabalala remembers the pride of having written a page in history with the "Bafana Bafana". But, he said, the South African soccer book stopped there. In a way, a wave of enthusiasm soon subsided, as in his personal case. "  There were a lot of big European clubs that were interested in me at the start, like PSG for example ," he says. It was Arsene Wenger himself who told me during the World Cup. But it is unfortunate that nothing materialized afterwards  ”.

" Much remains to be done in South Africa "

The 2010 World Cup was also about massive investments, it was the ambition to offer new opportunities for black South Africans. Ten years later, the results are disappointing, assures the striker from the township of Soweto. "  Much remains to be done ," says Siphiwe Tshabalala. Black people in South Africa are poor and hungry. They want resources to be made available to them. For example in sport, if you really want to democratize tennis or rugby, you have to invest in the townships and not only in the wealthy districts, and you will receive the fruits of these investments over the long term  ”.

Its popularity has not changed today. So Tshabalala reoriented himself towards political activism, more precisely in favor of the anti-racist struggle in South Africa. He is often consulted by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

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• Soccer
• 2010 world cup
• Sports
• South Africa

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