fifa world cup 2010 review and pics

South Africa World Cup Draw Special - and Property Investing in S Africa World Cup Draw Results

So now we know - England will face USA, Algeria and Slovenia in Group C at next year's World Cup finals.

The draw for South Africa 2010 hasn't been too harsh for Fabio Capello's men, who will kick off their campaign against the United States in Rustenburg on June 12.

They then move on to Cape Town to face Algeria for the first time before a clash against Slovenia in Port Elizabeth.

If England can progress through to the second round they will then face one of South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay or France.

World Cup 2010: Draw Pairs Brazil With Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea

The eight groups are decided...

Fifa World Cup trophy

The big story from this evening's 2010 World Cup draw in Cape Town came from Group G where Brazil, Ivory Coast, and Portugal were positioned together along with North Korea in the 'Group of Death'.

Hosts South Africa had a tough draw in Group A along with Mexico, Uruguay and France.

Holders Italy will have to make their way past Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia as they attempt to retain the trophy they won in Germany in 2006.

The opening game of the tournament will see South Africa play Mexico in Johannesburg on 11 June.

South African actress Charlize Theron, England international David Beckham, Ethiopian athletics legend Haile Gebrselassie, South African cricket pioneer Makhaya Ntini, Springbok rugby player John Smit, and Bafana defender Matthew Booth helped conduct the draw at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in front of a crowd of luminaries including Franz Beckenbauer, Eusebio, and Desmond Tutu.

Geographical criteria meant that no two teams from the same confederation could be drawn in the same group, with the exception of European teams where a maximum of two were permitted.

All eight groups in full:

Group A	Group B
South Africa	Argentina
Mexico	Nigeria
Uruguay	South Korea
France	Greece

Group C	Group D
England	Germany
United States	Australia
Algeria	Serbia
Slovenia	Ghana

Group E	Group F
Netherlands	Italy
Denmark	Paraguay
Japan	New Zealand
Cameroon	Slovakia

Group G	Group H
Brazil	Spain
North Korea	Switzerland
Ivory Coast	Honduras
Portugal	Chile

Now that the groups are drawn, the path to the semi-final is known, for the winners of Group A face the runners up of Group B, and the winners of Group G face the runners up on Group H, and so on, with A-D and E-H forming two sides of a bracket.

There is a distinct possibility that favourites Brazil could meet second favourites Spain in the second round. With Portugal and Ivory Coast also in Group G, it is guaranteed that at least two big guns will be eliminated before the quarter final out of these four teams.

Property investing in South Africa and the 2010 World Cup

The PropertyInvesting.net team visited South Africa to provide some insights for our visitors. Starting with the Cape Town area - it’s absolutely beautiful. Dramatic scenery, lovely beaches, history, culture, low retail prices, a growing economy and amazing “Mediterranean” climate – similar to central Italy. Only problem is the crime – you have to “watch your back” and “don’t be too trusting”. As we have described before, the retiring babyboomers with high net worth have been looking for select properties with sea views, sun, sand, sailing, scenery for many years now. Most of the British arriving at Cape Town airport seem to be over 55 years only. Many South Africa's from Jo'burg retire in these parts.

You have all this beauty on the coast road from Cape Town through Green Point, Sea Point, Cliftonville, Bantry Bay, Camps Bay, Llandudno through to Hout Bay. Camps Bay - Bantry Bay are the closest you will get to the St Tropez of Africa – the best beach front penthouses now sell for £1 million. Cape Town harbour is rapidly developing with nice marina, shops and restaurants – and good maritime history. This is a stones-throw from the new World Cup Stadium in Cape Town at Greenpoint - currently on course for completion early 2010. The area just behind the stadium and anywhere in Greenpoint will likely see prices rising as regeneration efforts improve the area prior to the World Cup.

The Claremont suburb of Cape Town has spacious executive houses with good security – these make popular long term corporate rentals. Most living costs are half what they are in the UK – no sign of this changing. Hout Bay is a more family oriented alternative residential area and is definitely up and coming – some new select gated developments are being built, the town does have a growing Township of squatters – crime is low because of a very effective neighbourhood watch scheme and community spirit. Further south along the dramatic coastline is Hoek Bay – a rather Bohemian place frequented by surfers – definitely up and coming – the sea is very warm which attracts bathers. Likely to become more mainstream and popular in the next ten years.

The economics of South Africa are less compelling – GDP growth of 3% in 2008 an projected -2% in 2009 is not good. The Rand has dropped from 10 to 18 to the pound, but has recently recovered to 15 because of the pounds drop. It’s still difficult to take large amounts of Rand out of the country. Commissions on property sales are high – like in Spain. Manufacturing, centred in Johannesburg, was doing well in 2008 but South Africa has to compete with India and China, so the longer term outlook may not be so good. The crime problems don’t seem to be getting any better. So South Africa is not without its risk though any property investor visiting Cape Town and seeing Table Mountain, the Seven Apostles and all the beautiful beaches, wildlife, wineries, sun, sand, sea, scenery and culture will feel like buying a property - but be careful.

House prices rose by about 12% in 2007 and 9% in 2008 but are now dropping because of the global downturn - retail prices in inflation was 10% in 2008 and is also dropping to ca. 5% currently. Interest rates peaked at 15% in 2008. As you can see, the real price increases are only slightly above inflation - with the Rand exposed to weakness against the pound, Euro and dollar, it's a relatively risky place to attempt to make serious money, if you are from a country with a strong currency.

Prices rose the strongest in Pretoria 45% by 2006 plying catch-up. This area used to be one large Township – now many locals have jobs in manufacturing, mining and land and property price have risen accordingly. Not for the average investor but for the more adventurous – could be with considering. In the Cape Town area, prices rose about 16% last year and are expected to rise by a further 7% this year. Interest rate recently rose to 9% so this will likely hinder the property market in 2007.

Other developing cities are Durban on the east coast and Johannesburg the capital and main financial centre – crime is still a big problem, so researching an area and buying secure property is important.

Price have now declining in most area – so the big boom of the last 6 years has ended – if you invest in South Africa, it will undoubtedly be a bet on the strength of the Rand. And any hike in oil price will hit the country hard – or taxes on airline fares (carbon tax) in view of the distance from Europe, Asia and USA.

Add to this the increased political risk from instability in the ANC party, problems controlling immigration from other African countries and an uncertain net migration of wealth to Europe, although the situation at present is relatively stable, the downside is quite large, albeit the economic upside is also quite large.

Problems were encountered Jan-Feb 2008 with power cuts, related mine closures caused by the cuts and some political turbulence - however, things rapidly improved by mid 2008 and things have been far more stable since. But it does highlight the uncertainties - and challenges the country has with power, exposure to high oil prices and reliance on high metals commodity prices, manufacturing and long-distance tourism for its economy.

If oil prices skyrocket again, and airline travel costs rise, or the world stays in recession many years, South Africa could be hit hard.

But the Football World Cup in 2010 will likely boost prices in the main cities – Cape Town will see a big new stadium being build about 1 mile south-east of the harbour / marina - properties close to the action are likely to see values rise at a higher rate than the average area.

So overall – if you want a retirement home in the sun, it’s a great place being in the southern hemisphere – but for serious property investors, it might be best to focus are areas in Europe, Asia or USA close to where you live. Its more manageable and easier to pick up below market value property on an ongoing basis. And you wont have to worry about currency fluctuations.

We provide some hopefully useful resources below that can be used to map-identify the best investment areas - choosing low crime areas is important, along with regenerating areas possibly close to a World Cup stadium.

World Cup 2010 Stadium Locations

World Cup 2010 Stadium South-africa