The first World Cup ever held in Africa opened at 2:00 PM Eastern time in a spectacular burst of noise, color and joy. Unfortunately, South Africa’s first black President Nelson Mandela missed the event. This was the result of a car crash which killed Zenani Mandela, his great-granddaughter, at the age of 13.

Other personalities were present including US Vice President Joe Biden, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, and United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon. Last month, President Obama gave Vice President Joe Biden a job that the Biden jokingly called a “tough assignment” – to attend the World Cup in South Africa.

Vice President received this “tough assignment” from Obama last month and he expressed his hopes regarding the new opportunities for strengthen relations with South Africa. In his opinion the relations between our countries are better then ever. More than 300,000 foreign supporters were estimated to arrive in South Africa for this event.

The organizers did a great effort working at the 10 stadiums to finish them on time as well as other infrastructure projects like Africa’s first high-speed rail link. The best 32 competing teams will fight during 64 games that will decide the new World Champion on July 11. The ceremony was followed by the first game, counting for Group A, between the hosts and Mexico, which ended 1-1.

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