Ayoba to most African teams in 2010 World Cup

Most African teams have earned the hails of "Ayoba" from fans of the continent crazy for football, when the curtain of 2010 FIFA World Cup fell with trophy going to Spain and Ghana among the best eight squads.

Ayoba was a slang word used in South Africa to express approval or amazement. Most of such applauds went to Ghana when it helped the whole continent live up the dream to create a feat in the first football showpiece held on Africa's soil.

The Black Stars became the third African nation to advance to the last eight of World Cup, after Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002.

Although Ghana was shunned from entering the top four with a shootout defeat against Uruguay, their performance has won the heart of Nelson Mandela, former president of the host country and hero of South Africa anti-apartheid campaign.

The celebrity in his 90s did not show up in the opening ceremony of the World Cup due to the sudden death of his 13-year-old great-granddaughter in a traffic accident, but managed to spare time to meet coach Milovan Rajevac and Ghanaian players at his home in Johannesburg after the playoff with Uruguay.

As the sole African representative left in the continent's first World Cup, the Black Stars had also garnered supports from the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) prior to the match.


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Special Report: World Cup 2010