By Jay Kitchen

For the first time ever, the African continent is hosting the World Cup, South Africa to be exact.

After 16 World Cups, FIFA, soccer’s governing body, has deemed the continent able and worthy to host the month-long world’s most watched event. Unlike many others, especially North American events, this sporting event is held every four years, making the buildup already gaining momentum two years in advance.

There had been plenty of concerns in having the tournament in Africa. Recently, there had been a threat of working strikes at the stadiums that were being built or upgraded, but the tournament now seems to be in go-status on June 22 as planned.

South Africa got an automatic place in the tournament as is tradition. Even if they had to go through the qualifying rounds, they should have made the 32-team field as they remain one of the better teams on the continent.

While many teams, especially the ones from Europe who spend money like the New York Yankees do on this side of the pond, African squads do not really have that luxury. Like most players who are in South America, Asia or North America, they know that the European teams have the means to train at the top spots.

Both the Ivory Coast and Cameroon are quite familiar with the tournament. They have been there numerous times while South Africa has the tournament in their backyard. However, countries like Algeria, Ghana and Nigeria may not have the quality practice grounds or the quality players to really put themselves deep into the later rounds.

Still, the hosts have some stories of their own that justify that the road to the World Cup was also a difficult one.

Defender Arroan Mokoenai is a rags-to-riches story on his own. He was picked up from the “dirty streets of Johannesburg” and went on to play in perhaps the world’s most talented league, the Premier League in England as a pro. He currently is on the roster of Blackborn Rovers.

Striker Bengani Khumalo has big shoes to fill as one of South Africa’s best attackers, Benni McCarthy, will not be on the 2010 roster. But Khumalo’s knack for scoring spectacular goals should help the team.

The South African players who play outside the country, like Katlego Mashhego and Brian Baloyi, at times get the wrath from the fans. In Africa they get the usual taunts, but Africans abroad, they sometimes get it worse.

American player Oguchi Onyewu got punched in the face while playing for his club team in Belguim. Onyewu is one of America’s national team’s best players and went overseas to improve his game.

Another example of blacks having trouble away from home happened in one of the better soccer nations. In a French league game, the home team tried to promote fair play and anti-racism by having one team wear white jerseys and the other black as a show of unity. It backfired as a large portion of the crowd sang and chanted “Come on the white” and there were also monkey sounds every time an African American touched the ball.

Soccer is indeed the world’s sport, but with that comes the good and bad that this planet possesses.

One reason the World Cup is being held in South Africa is to try and unite the “world’s game.” Blacks have made a major impact on the sport. Roger Milla of Cameroon remains one of the greatest players of all time. If this year one African team, especially the host, makes it deep into the World Cup stages, the whole continent will look good. This will promote a race that has been questioned in many manners, not just on the soccer pitch.

Nelson Mandela is a big part of the party that is set to begin in June. You could say that without him, there might be no World Cup in this part of the world.

Mandela has said little about getting the World Cup but he is proud, and now at the age of 91 both South Africa and the entire continent know that this is a time that they could get, at the least, a good part of that “third world” stigma lessoned.

While the African teams may feel a little more relieved to be “at home” for the first time in a World Cup tournament, the host knows that billions will be watching--and there is never a second time to make a first impression.