By Jay Kitchen

And this time, Africa gets to be the host.

World Cup 2010 is be hosted by South Africa, making it the first time a nation from the African continent has hosted the month-long tournament, an event that draws teams from all the populated continents of the world.

FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, finally has decided to have the event in Africa for a couple of reasons. One is that it has never been in Africa before, previously being held in Europe, South America, North America and Asia. One other factor and motivation is that FIFA also wants to promote the game in the continent, where resources for fields, player development and quality coaching are sometimes limited to aspiring players.

For some, though, Africa was the obvious choice. The land of Nelson Mandela was ready for its time to shine and prove they can measure up to previous countries.

“We feel privileged and humble that South Africa has been given the singular honor of being the African host country,” said Mandela.

Being the host nation of the 32-team competition, South Africa automatically qualified for the event per FIFA rules. The Bafana Bafana, South Africa’s nickname, had already been to the World Cup three previous times, but walked away with little success in all of them. The current South Africa team is not ranked high in the FIFA rankings, but with them playing at home, surprising things can happen. In 1994, the United States hosted the event for the first time in yet another FIFA move to spread the soccer love. America surprised a good Columbia team in group play and made it to the knock-out rounds, only to eventually lose to Brazil, who went on to win the World Cup over Italy.

Former Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is South Africa’s current coach. Some players like Surprise Moriri, Lance Davis and Bennie McCarthy, South Africa’s all-time scoring leader, have played with or are playing currently with European teams, considered to be the perfect leagues to develop players’ talents and go up against other top players from around the world.

Many of the South African players play in the domestic league at home. Some say that not playing abroad does not give the players the chance to see all types of styles and qualities that the European teams have. Europe will be sending 12 teams to the event, the most of any continent in the World Cup.

Africa will also be represented by Cameroon, which will feature star player Samuel Eto’0, one of the best in the world, along with a surprise team from Algeria, as well as a physical Ghana squad with the great Micheal Essien, and the Ivory Coast, who will look for Didier Drogba to continue his scoring prowess.

It will be hard for the host to advance. Those who say that South Africa will bow out in the first round, where they are grouped in with Mexico, Uruguay and France, might be right. They will play the opener this Friday against Mexico, which is especially interesting here in the Southern California where there is a large Mexican/Hispanic fan base that will surely be backing El Tri, the favored name for the Mexican national team.

Making it into the second round would be a success for the home nation, and confirm that African teams can hang with the rest of the world. It would only add to the pandemonium that is underway already.

Mexico also has a lot to prove as well. They hosted the tournament in 1986, and despite the efforts of the great Hugo Sanchez, Mexico did not make the finals and a large country is still hungry for a world title.

For the past decade, Mexico has been a little behind the U.S. as far as the North America region soccer bragging rights go.

Last year, Mexican Coach Javier Aguirre resurrected the team after a slow qualifying start, which would have been a disaster for a soccer-crazy nation had the team not made the World Cup.

Veterans Adolfo Bautista, Nery Castillo and Cuauhtemoc hope to ruin South Africa’s start with a win in the opener. Mexico is big in So Cal. Many youth and adult leagues borrow Mexican club team names. The game against Uruguay must at least be a tie for Mexico. Winning against the host this week would help put some doubts to rest as well.

The United States has one of the highlighted games of the first-round. They play England, bringing history to the forefront.

Decades ago, the USA pulled off one of the biggest World Cup upsets when a young team upset the British team. It caused major pain back in Britain. It could happen again.

No longer just happy to make the tournament, the Americans look to get past the quarter-finals for the first time ever, and with a little luck they may surprise and finally get past that barrier and make history for coach Bob Bradley.

Products from the Inland Empire will have a big impact in the tournament. Landon Donavon is the U.S.’s best player and much of the team’s failure will lie with him. Rancho Cucamonga/Fontana native Carlos Bocanegra is the team caption and one of the team’s better defenders. Midfielder Maurice Edu also has Inland Empire ties.

In the end, anything less than the final eight would be a disappointment for America. Expectations are now higher.

That USA hype aside, the usual suspects are again aligned to be the favorites in 2010.

Brazil with all their flair and the great Kaka are the top pick for many with five World Cup titles under their belt. Spain, one of the best teams to not win the World Cup, is also up there.

Other veteran teams like Germany, England, Portugal, France and Argentina will also have their say. Argentina has the best player in the world with Messi, and Portugal has the prior Player of the World in Ronaldo. The French are also top notch, having lost in the last World Cup finale to Italy, who is also predicted to be a contender as well.

Soccer is a sport that takes time to change the power, and with the World Cup being held just every four years, it takes lots of time to prove your worth and standing. The U.S. has climbed up a large hill, and now has the ambition to get to that mountain just ahead.

The 2010 World Cup has put Africa on a higher plane. A long wait is over, and the door to unity has not only just been cracked, but opened wide open. It is an event that could really be an eye opener for the world.