Cape Town — South Africa proved to the doubting Thomases that they are capable of hosting big occasions when they hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup draw at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CICC) on Friday night.

Before the draw there had been doubts as to whether South Africa would be ready to host an event of such magnitude. It was a glittering ceremony, which was attended by soccer's 'who's who', including FIFA president Sepp Blatter and South African President Jacob Zuma.

It was an event that left many people speechless and looking forward to the games, which kick off in June next year. As it has been tipped as the 'African World Cup', surely the rest of Africans across the continent must be proud of the spectacle that unfolded before everyone across the globe. The event was spiced by thousands of passionate South African fans who thronged the Long Street in Cape Town to watch the draw.

Now that the South Africans have impressed off the field, the focus has shifted to the national team, Bafana Bafana, to prove their mettle in the field of play.

In the last few months, Bafana Bafana have been a disappointing lot, registering a single win from nine games something which led to the dismissal of Joel Santana and was replaced by fellow countryman in Brazilian Carlos Alberto Perreira. The rehired man seems to have brought fresh hope to more than 40 million South Africans, though he has only achieved two draws in the games he has been in charge of so far.

Having been one of the top seeded teams, by virtue of being the hosts, Bafana Bafana have been pitted in Group A alongside Mexico, Uruguay and favourites, France. South Africa will play the tricky Mexicans in the 2010 World Cup opener at the 90,000-seat Soccer City Stadium on June 11. It is a game which is expected to gauge what Bafana have in store for the rest of Africa.

Playing the game at the refurbished Soccer City will bring back the memories of Mark Williams' brace which guided Bafana Bafana to a memorable 2-0 win in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, hardly two years after their readmission to FIFA.

Though the current squad is a far cry from the one which won the tournament 13 years ago, playing on home soil and backed by thousands of the local fans will hopefully inspire them to victory against the swift Mexicans.

Speaking to Monitor Sport after the draw, former Bafana Bafana coach Screamer Tshabalala believes that they have what it takes to reach the knockout stage. He takes confidence from the boys' brilliant display during last June's FIFA Confederations Cup, which saw them finishing fourth after losing to Spain. "In preparation for the Confederations Cup, the squad managed to spend a month together and the fact that they'll go for training camps in Brazil and Germany before the World Cup, should give them much confidence." But this does not mean that Tshabalala underrates their opponents.

He said Mexico is a dangerous outfit, which will push Bafana Bafana in the opening game and with France out to prove their point after their controversial qualification.

Though South Africa has been disappointing in front of goal, Tshabalala believes that top striker Benni McCarthy of English Premiership side Blackburn Rovers, will be in good shape to deliver the goods. But on his recent return to the squad McCarthy looked overweight and has been sitting on the bench at his UK club.

However, Tshabalala pleaded with African fans to rally behind the rest of the African teams in the finals - Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria - as that would inspire them to focus on ensuring that they do the continent proud.

Tshabalala coached Bafana Bafana between 1992 and 1994 before he was shown the door.

The draw was as follows:-

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay and France.

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea and Greece.

Group C: England, United States, Algeria and Slovenia.

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana.

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon.

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia.

Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast and Portugal.

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras and Chile.