WHEN gunmen opened fire on a Togo team bus during the African Nations Cup at the start of the year, anxious eyes were immediately cast towards this summer’s tournament.

South Africa, we were told, was a country whose rising crime rates and under developed infrastructure could not handle the pressures of the World Cup, and the arrival of some five million visitors.

New stadiums were apparently behind schedule, and a country in the midst of a recession was struggling to show it could foot the bill. Rumours even circulated that FIFA were considering alternative venues.

Thankfully, with just two games remaining in this tournament, all that panicking now looks as if it was for nothing – the South Africans have shown themselves to be the perfect hosts.

The shining new stadia have looked magnificent on television and judging by reports from the journalists over there, have been just as good in real life.

There has been a genuinely unique atmosphere, thanks to those vuvuzelas, and whether you like them or not, they were just as iconic as the ticker tape from Argentina, or the Mexican Wave from, erm, Mexico.

I’ll be the first to admit that the football has not always been of the best variety but if anyone needed proof that the gap was narrowing between the game’s top teams and those supposed minnows, then this is it… Portugal v North Korea aside, of course.

There has been a bit of a kerfuffle over unsold tickets but is that really such a surprise given the global economy at present? And apparently, there was a bit of confusion at the airports last night.

But the most important thing, in my opinion, is that there has been barely a mention of fan arrests, violence, serious crime or anything else that drags the game into the gutter when all us football nations tend to get together.

South Africa can be proud of what they have achieved. I just hope it sets a precedent for the footballing future of the continent.