There are just over 100 days to go until the start of the biggest championship in soccer. FIFA President Sepp Blatter attended a special dinner in Durban to mark the countdown to the 2010 World Cup.

 

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said, "I am always full of emotions and I think these emotions they will still be there after this world cup. But nowadays when we say we are 100 or 101 days before the real kick-off I can only repeat what has been said here and I can also say la la la, la la la, la la la. Let us go."

Several hundred guests attended the gala as anticipation grows for the World Cup. Blatter says he hopes former South African President Nelson Mandela would be fit enough to be there for the start of the action.

South Africa celebrates the 100-day countdown to the 2010 tournament with a match against Namibia in a friendly at Durban on Wednesday. The local organizing committee's CEO says the nation is feeling the excitement. He says his country should be proud of what it has achieved so far as it gets ready to become the first African nation to host the World Cup.

Danny Jordaan, CEO of Organizing Committee for 2010 FIFA World Cup, said, "And so, as we sit here, 100 days to go, and look back at the road we travelled, certainly it's with a great sense of achievement that all of us celebrate the reality that for the first time after 103 years of international football, Africa will have its first chance to host this event."