Looking back at Euro 2008, looking forward to South Africa 2010

The European football championships ended on Sunday in typically spectacular fashion, as the Spanish flummoxed and beguiled the workmanlike Germans to take the cup, ending decades of frustration and disappointment for their weary fans, while giving them bragging rights for the next four years. It capped off an amazing tournament, offering the kind of exhilaration and excitement that would usually require extensive foreplay with some cuddling thereafter.

Make no mistake, this was certainly a tournament to remember, from the enterprising football played out on the field, to the incompetent broadcasting by the SABC of the matches. (Whoever made the bizarre decision to only televise the first half of the competition should be hung out the Auckland Park offices by their toenails). As footballing powers, Austria and Switzerland may have had the pedigree and enterprise of a damp blouse, but their organisation and logistical skills were second to none. By all accounts, the tournament proved to be a massive success, both in terms of entertainment, as well as management, and let’s just hope there were South African 2010 officials among the thousands of visitors who attended the event.

Yes, the flipside to all of this is that all eyes will now be focussed on South Africa. With little more than 700 days to go before the World Cup, there is not much room to manoeuvre, and it’s time to start cracking the proverbial whip. Besides the infrastructure and stadia, attitudes will surely also have to radically transform. I don’t buy into the irrational fear of xenophobia raising it’s ugly head come 2010, as we tend to vent our anger toward destitute Zimbabweans, rather than middle class Germans.

I do feel however, that we as South Africans need to greatly improve our levels of service. The lack of sufficient competition in many industries has left us meekly accepting mediocrity and sheer incompetence, and this is something that will not be tolerated by our overseas visitors. Fan areas and other public functions need to be well coordinated, and our hospitality industry also needs to be on the ball. The waiter who insists on bringing you that dirty plate, the till operator who coughs over your groceries, and the tour guide who doesn’t bother returning your calls — these are the characters we need to either physically whip into shape, or ship them out the major cities in the middle of the night, as the Australians did to their Sydney vagrants in 2000.

A few years back, China embarked on what they called a “reconditioning program” for their people ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games, teaching them to smile, be friendly, and not beat up any Tibetans while the global event is underway. It’s probably time we carried out a similar initiative.

Let’s not forget, hosting the World Cup is really just a big chest thumping opportunity, a chance to show the world that despite our problems, we can clean up well and hold everything together for a few weeks. Our national team may humiliate us on the field of play, but let’s make sure our nation doesn’t embarrass us off it.