JOHANNESBURG: The World Cup is not only a celebration for South Africa but for the entire African continent, tournament organising chief Danny Jordaan said ahead of the kick-off on Friday.

Hosts South Africa launch the 32-team tournament against Mexico at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium later on Friday.

Jordaan basked in the national pride the FIFA World Cup is generating throughout the republic, with streets clogged with flag-waving and vuvuzela-blowing fans.

“We want 500 million people throughout the world to see a different face of South Africa and a different face of the African continent,” Jordaan told reporters at the tournament’s media centre.

“Our country has come to a standstill. The first time it happened was when Nelson Mandela walked out of prison in February 11, 1990 and everyone then sat in front of the TV and waited for that moment.

“Today it is such a moment when the country is sitting waiting.

“It took us 16 years to win the right to host the World Cup and it took Africa more than 80 years to wait for this opportunity.

“Now the waiting is over, Africa has demonstrated to the whole world that we have the capacity to deliver on our promise to be equal to any other nation and this is a celebration not only for South Africa but for the African continent.”

Jordaan said he would temporarily relinquish his CEO duties and become a fan at Friday’s game and was hopeful of a positive result for South Africa’s Bafana Bafana team.

“It will be a difficult game today, but we have more hope for Bafana Bafana,” he said.

“Three months ago Bafana lost 11 matches in a row and over the last three months they have been undefeated in 12 consecutive matches and so we have a lot of hope.

“The team managed to beat the first European team in our history when they defeated Denmark 1-0, so we go to the stadium with a lot of hope.

“But Mexico defeated the reigning world champions Italy, so it’s going to be a great spectacle of football, a wonderful contest and of course we hope that we’ll get a positive result.”