Nelspruit - Soccer fans in Mpumalanga have been urged to buy tickets for the FIFA World Cup matches between Chile and Honduras on June 16, and Australia and Serbia on June 23.
MEC for culture, Sport and Recreation Vusi Shongwe used his 2010/2011 Budget Speech in the provincial legislature in Nelspruit on Friday to remind fans that tickets for these matches were still available.
"We ask all those people who do not as yet have tickets for these World Cup games to be played in Mpumalanga to buy them now.
"Chile has chosen our province as their base for the World Cup and we need to extend our support to them and make them feel welcome while they are busy with their preparations," he said.
He said the City's World Cup facilities were world-class and Chile would have the added advantage of being "surrounded by warm-hearted people who will go out of their way" to make the team feel at home in the province.
"The mere fact that tickets for the Bafana Bafana match against Thailand this Sunday were sold out within 48 hours shows that our people are hungry for international soccer.
"Football fever is being felt all over the province and it is epitomised by the interest people have shown in embracing the Fly the Flag and Football Friday campaigns," he said.
Shongwe said people who had doubted the province's ability to host the World Cup had been proven wrong.
"With only a few days remaining before the first whistle blows, we have proved to the rest of the world that we are indeed ready to host this glorious event," he said.
He said the state-of-the-art Mbombela Stadium was 100 percent ready to host the World Cup and that the teams playing their first-round matches there would have the luxury of playing on a world-class pitch.
"There is no doubt that the pitch will allow them to showcase their talent, so be sure not to miss out on this exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the world's best footballers in action," he said.
Nelspruit also plays host to the match between Italy and New Zealand on June 20 and Korea versus Cote d'Ivoire on June 25.
