South Africa is multi-talented in the sporting field, from women’s 800m runners to football, and I have been catching up on the latest in the world of sports as the year winds down to a quiet close.

Having witnessed the shameful loss of the Proteas, the national cricket team, to England, by an innings and many many runs, I decided to cheer myself up by investigating South Africa’s chances in the forthcoming World Cup to be hosted here in June 2010.

Excitement runs high, you can be certain.

Aware of this, I took a scouting trip to Cavendish Square today, a fairly normal suburban shopping center in Cape Town. From what I can see and have displayed for you in the attached photograph (taken surreptitiously by uncloaking my Droid and its 5 Megapixel cyclopean eye and firing off a quick shot at some by-no-means-insubstantial personal risk of embarrassment not to speak of danger — this used to be a police state and a very conservative country in the 60s and 70s and people have been put under house arrest for far lesser violations of security or good taste), I think you will have to conclude, as I did, that things look very good for the South African team. Everything is larger than life in Africa. There is a bumper crop of talent. The rest of the world can stand very little chance of success against a land which can unashamedly display this kind of breadth and depth in just one small suburb. The country is solidly behind them and everyone seems willing to provide support for the cup effort and lend a helping hand (or two).

A Happy New Year to you all. And Fifa Mandela!