It went down to the wire….. My pre-tournie pick to win – The Netherlands – fell to a well-deserving side from Spain in an extremely “colorful” nail-biter of a final match.

No doubt the real winner of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was Africa. As former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the BBC:

South Africans should be proud of what they have produced. It’s been an organisational and logistical feat, some doubted them but they’ve proven them wrong and it’s also been good for the continent.

We have proven we can organise, we have proven we can receive, welcome and make people feel at home. And I think people have also discovered there’s another side of Africa.

South Africa did an amazing job welcoming the world’s football fans and putting on a great show. The tournament itself was a treat – with some amazing matches, phenomenal play and quite a few refereeing controversies.

(more…)

Which country will emerge the victor? Can reigning champion Italy secure a repeat? Will the host country South Africa beat the odds? What about the secretive North Korean team? Can England finally repeat the victory of 1966?

Those are the question the world ponders today as 32 teams representing countries from every region of the globe begin the quest to capture the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The pundits have their guesses – and so do you dear readers and Twitterati.

Per responses received via email, Twitter direct messages, Twitter shouts and comments, your collective prediction for the winning country is ……

(more…)