Guest blog: School reporters, Nigeria
Post categories: World Cup 2010,ÌýWorld Cup Have Your Say
| 11:04 UK time, Friday, 25 June 2010
Over the course of the World Cup, World Cup Have Your Say is running a series of guest blogs by bloggers from across the world.
This is the sixth, by three pupils from schools taking part in the British Council's Connecting Classrooms project and are working in partnership with ´óÏó´«Ã½ News School Report to provide on-the-spot reports from South Africa.
Too Many Red Cards - Timothy, 17, Abuja, Nigeria
The Fifa 2010 World Cup seems to be witnessing too many red cards - and I think that is making the players to play too cautiously.
Teams are given undue advantage over their opponents as a result of these red cards.
Take, for instance, the red card given to the Super Eagles' midfielder, Sani Kaita, in their second group B match against Greece.
In my opinion, that incidence was an off-the-field foul that should have just earned him a yellow card.
Of course, Kaita's removal gave the Greeks the advantage to win the match.
Again, consider the red card given to the Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Khone in their second group match against Uruguay.
The foul was dramatised by the attacker and Khone should not have been punished. South Africa went on to lose that match by a scandalous three goals to nil.
Fifa should please caution the referees to show mercy when it comes to brandishing the dreaded card at players.
World Class World Cup - Eniola, 16, Abuja, Nigerian
The Fifa 2010 World Cup, hosted by South Africa - the first ever World Cup on African soil - is truly a world-class World Cup.
The stadiums are world class, the facilities on ground are excellent, the watertight security measures put in place by the South African police to ensure safety of lives and property, the global publicity given to the tournament - and to crown it all, the excitement of the vuvuzela and the jabulani ball has added a lot of colour and fanfare to the soccer fiesta.
People from different nationalities have travelled far and wide to go and be part of the World Cup in South Africa, match tickets were completely sold out, and the stadia are usually filled to the brim with passionate soccer-loving fans.
The scenery I witnessed at the Ellis Park stadium on the day Argentina took on Nigeria was to say the least, electrifying and pulsating.
Just watching the fans alone was in itself a great entertainment.
This just goes a long way to show that Africa has come of age and can indeed host the world's biggest soccer fiesta - the Senior Fifa World Cup and should be given more slots for participation.
An African World Cup? - Emmanuel, student from Abuja, Nigeria
Is this truly an African World Cup?
This is the question I keep asking myself - seeing that the African teams, except for the Black Stars of Ghana, have performed below expectation in their first two matches of the competition.
The popular music icon Shakira, in her World Cup theme song, sang that this time is for Africa - meaning that an African team should win the World Cup for the very first time.
As motivational as her song might be, the African teams don't seem to be living up to expectation and must have to raise the level of their games if they intend to make any significant impact on the ongoing World Cup.
´óÏó´«Ã½ News School Report project is a ´óÏó´«Ã½ News outreach project which helps young people develop journalistic skills and become "School Reporters".
Throughout the World Cup School Reporters will be sports reporting. To see all their reports and the news from schools in your area go to bbc.co.uk/schoolreport.
