Bafana Bafana are following in Madiba's footsteps by being positive rolemodels for the youth of South Africa. Simphiwe Tshabalala scored the opening goal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Photo: Media Club South Africa
If Bafana Bafana were not the heroes of millions of South African children before, their performance this weekend in the 2010 FIFA World Cup has surely cemented their status as rolemodels.
Simphiwe Tshabalala of Bafana Bafana scored the first goal of the tournament and the team eventually drew 1-1 with Mexico.
It is heartening to see that the players are truly being positive rolemodels. Teko Modise and Matthew Booth are for instance endorsing the Brothers for Life campaign on national television. Brothers for Life encourage safe sexual relationships and respect for and protection of women and children. Watch the Matthew Booth video by clicking here.
Matthew Booth also endorses one of the official charities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, called 1GOAL. This campaign is bringing together footballers, fans, charities, corporations and individuals to lobby and achieve the ambitious aim of ensuring education for everyone in the world. As many as 72 million children in the world are currently denied the chance to go to school.
Proceeds from the Kick-off Concert for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, held last Thursday in Johannesburg went to this charity and another called “20 Centres for 2010”, which aims to build 20 Football for Hope Centres to promote public health, education and football in disadvantaged communities across Africa.
You can also upload a video of yourself doing the “Waka Waka”, the dance that goes with the official 2010 FIFA World Cup Song, sung by Shakira, to You Tube to create awareness for the 1GOAL campaign. See Shakira’s video about this below.
