20 days from now, South Africans will watch with pride as their  players run onto the pitch at the Soccer City Stadium for the opening game against Mexico - and the Vuvus will go wild!

You may have a good knowledge of the intricacies of the game, and be tempted to argue with the ref’s whistle from your privileged position on the couch, but how much do you know of the history of the Beautiful Game?

Did you know that Soccer was first played in Johannesburg in 1888,  two years after gold was found on the reef?   Although very competitive, it was mostly amateur soccer.

• In 1896 Indian Football Clubs united to form the Indian Football Association.
• 1937 – Orlando Pirates, 1947 – Moroka Swallows, 1971 – Kaizer Motaung’s All-Star XI became Kaizer Chiefs.
• In 1958 the South African Bantu Football Association affiliated with FASA and FIFA and subsequently recognised FASA as the sole governing body of soccer in South Africa.
• In 1959 Orlando Stadium in Soweto opened.
• In 1965 Moroka Swallows won their first national championship in the South African Soccer League.
• In 1983 Jomo Sono bought Highlands Park, a historically white club and renamed it Jomo Cosmos.
• In 1985 the National Soccer League (NSL) was launched.
• In 1989 the First National Bank Stadium (Soccer City) with a capacity of 80 000 opened at Nasrec.
• In 1991, four historically divided and entirely separate bodies united to form the non-racial South African Football Association (SAFA) in Durban.
• 1990 SAFA was accepted back into FIFA.   Domestic soccer was re-organised along non-racial lines at last.
• In July 1992 South Africa re-joined international football by hosting the first fully representative international soccer match at King’s Park Stadium in Durban.   The South African team (dubbed Bafana Bafana – the boys), defeated Cameroon 1-nil.
• Three years later Orlando Pirates won the African Champion’s Cup.
• The following year SA hosted the African Cup of Nations and the national team became champions of Africa after beating Tunisia 2-nil at the FNB Stadium.   The Premier Soccer League was launched the same year.
• In 1997 South Africa qualified for the 1998 World Cup with a 1-nil victory over Congo at the FNB Stadium, but the team lost in the first round of the World Cup in France the next year.
• On 15 May 2004 South Africa won the bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
• In June 2009, South Africa successfully hosted the Confederations  Cup

Let celebrate being part of history, and embrace with pride,  our national team.

Good luck Bafana Bafana!