As compliments continued to pour in for South Africa on Monday 12 July 2010, Blatter called on the country’s people to use the success of the World Cup as an example of what the African continent can achieve.
South Africa silenced pessimists as it ended what has been a close to perfect tournament with a spectacular closing ceremony to round off the first soccer World Cup on African soil. The world congratulated South Africa and there is no doubt the encouragement has boosted the country’s credibility.
“You have shown the world that you can achieve anything and its time now that you show the rest of Africa that it can achieve anything… there were many pessimists in the beginning but as I always said it is a question of trust and confidence and we trusted South Africa and they have delivered,” Blatter said at a post-tournament press conference.
