Out of the night, they come for victory

WORLD CUP FINAL: NETHERLANDS v SPAIN:AT LAST, as if waiting its moment, the immense slumbering metropolis of Johannesburg with its hinterlands and townships rises to the occasion of this novel World Cup.

While South Africa’s cities have shimmied and sung through this month of play, Johannesburg has emitted an unimpressed sense of business as usual.

Yesterday, though, a long, buoyant parade snaked its way for a couple of miles through the narrow arteries of Soweto. Carnival style. It was the sort of moment which the hustling, crime-plagued city of Johannesburg had almost forgotten to provide, but at last fiesta is here.

In the old township, wide-eyed kids hopped and jigged around colourful floats, the drums beat intoxicatingly, women danced and men drank. White faces and black faces gawped and laughed together. Dutch fans and Spanish fans took photos and sang. Huge replicas passed by like oil tankers. The biggest was a representation of the beloved country. Mama Africa has been the tournament’s true winner.

In dusty fields nearby, surrounded by acres of temporary parking and vast hospitality marquees, Soccer City, the venue for tomorrow night’s final, sat squat and ready. Many years ago, when South Africa had its Invictus moment at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, Soweto slumbered indifferently.

But this is the world game, a language of love for anybody who has ever scuffed a ball and become addicted. Carnival was the right response to the sense of unity which this tournament has thrown up in a country still treading softly through the early years of its independence.

There is a sense of relief and celebration that the occasion has been a happy one. In a nation which suffers 50 murders a day there have been just a handful of criminal incidents related to the World Cup. The overwhelming sense has been of joy and welcome.

In Johannesburg these last couple of days the sense of occasion has spilled over from what had hitherto been its hub, the wealthy white enclave of Sandton, and into the streets beyond. There is a lightness in the air throughout the city, a lightness mixed with relief. This has been a fine World Cup.

The question in the aftermath will be: which lasts the longer, the unity or the profits? This weekend, a winter weekend in Africa, every major hotel in Johannesburg reports complete occupancy. The pattern persists through the province of Guateng right up to the capital in Pretoria.

Not surprisingly, match tickets are sold out, but Fifa is quietly pleased with the bigger picture too. The aggregate audience for the 64 games of the tournament will be above three million. In the 80-year history of the World Cup it is just the third time that figure has been reached and breached.

Around the world a television audience of some 500 million will watch as Shakira entertains and a variety of heads of state, including, somewhat shockingly, Robert Mugabe, dance along.

Whatever the outcome, the World Cup will have a new name inscribed on it tomorrow night. Only seven countries (Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, England, France and Italy) have won the competition, and this is the first final to take place without the Houses of Italy, Brazil Argentina or Germany

For the Spanish, tomorrow is a first visit to a World Cup final. Traditional dark horses, their best finish has been fourth in 1950.

For the Dutch, in their third final, the story may be slightly different. This is the first final in which they haven’t ended up playing the host country.

With their history of colonial influence here in South Africa some would claim they are the nearest thing to a host country the final will see. Claim it quietly, of course

Travel agents in both European countries report thousands upon thousands of requests about tickets and the Dutch are flying in four planes today with another 1,300 followers on board

For those left behind, massive screens and viewing areas have been arranged in both the Netherlands and Spain. Even in Barcelona, where it is traditional for the Catalan population to virtually ignore the doings of the Spanish national team, large screens have been erected and many thousands of fans are expected on the streets.

Should Spain win, they will be feted by a parade through Madrid on Monday night.

More charmingly and more originally, the Dutch on Tuesday will welcome their heroes in a canal parade through the city of Amsterdam, with a million Dutch expected to watch from the banks and locks.

And as to who will win, this has been a bewildering tournament that has undermined the confidence of everybody trying to predict its twists and turns. Everybody except a German octopus called Paul who has achieved considerable success as a pundit and whose predictions are carried as national news in many countries.

Live on Spanish television the octopus has plumped for a Spanish victory. A predictable enough gambit from the mollusc, what with Cesc Fabregas, David Silva and Fernando Torres likely to be sitting on the Spanish bench should anything go wrong.

Anyway, hopes are high in Spain and Paul feels he has done enough to avoid becoming paella.

South Africa’s great adventure reaches its last chapter. The money spent on football in a nation with so many more pressing needs has been obscene, but the legacy of self-confidence, happiness and joy makes the argument that it was the right thing to do. So many who came for the football will be back for the people.

“Africa can be proud, South Africa even more so and African football can also be proud,” Fifa president Sepp Blatter told a news conference yesterday. “We are almost at the end, but I am a satisfied president.”

Thank goodness for that.