The 19th rendition of the greatest sporting event in the world, the World Cup officially named as the 2010 FIFA World Cup is being held in South Africa from June 11 – July 11, 2010.

It is the first time that the finals of the tournament have been staged in an African host nation. It’s now wonder then that the football matches are filled with the sounds of the vuvuzela and that the mascot is an animal native to South Africa, the leopard.

Meet Zakumi, the 2010 FIFA World Cup mascot.

Zakumi is a cheerful and sporty leopard with green hair, presented on 22 September 2008. His name comes from “ZA”, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for South Africa, and “kumi”, a word that means ten in several African languages, referencing the year 2010.

Zakumi is a jolly, self-confident, adventurous, spontaneous, and actually quite shrewd little fellow. He loves to perform and always follows his instinct and intuition, yet sometimes has the tendency to exaggerate a bit. He is often found fooling about and teasing people but not in a mean way. He is warm-hearted and caring, and wants to make as many friends as possible.

His motto is, “Zakumi’s game is Fair Play.”

Watch the 2010 FIFA World Cup from June 11 – July 11, 2010.

The final match will be held at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa on July 11 between Spain and Netherlands.

Germany and Uruguay meanwhile will battle it our for third place on July 10 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Reference: Wikipedia

Please read my related posts:

1. 2010 FIFA World Cup Semi-Finals | Germany vs Spain One of the semifinal matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup features a rematch of the 2008 European Championships final. On July 7, 2010 at 2:30 PM EST, Germany and Spain will meet at Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa...
2. 2010 FIFA World Cup Third Place | Germany vs Uruguay After losing their respective semifinal matches; Germany to Spain and Uruguay to Netherlands, the two teams will try to at least salvage some national pride by battling it out for Third Place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They will...
3. 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals | Spain vs Netherlands Out of the 204 competing national teams in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, only two remains. On July 11, 2010, 2:30 PM EST at the Soccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa, Spain and Netherlands will meet in the Finals for the...
4. Meet Bascat, the 2010 FIBA World Championship Mascot The 16th rendition of one of the most prestigious basketball tournaments in the world, the FIBA World Basketball Championship is being hosted by Turkey from August 28 to September 12, 2010. Just like with any international sports competition, it would...
5. The Vuvuzela, YouTube and Hitler Ever wondered what that’s endless, incredibly annoying sound that sounds vaguely like a swarm of bees (play it here) you hear when you watch the soccer matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup? That’s the sound of the vuvuzela. The...
6. Hitler and Paul the Octopus Paul the Octopus is a common octopus living in a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany. But he is not your typical common octopus as he is actually an oracle. Amusing as it may seem, he have...
7. 2010 FIBA World Championship Third Place | Lithuania Wins First Ever Medal After losing their respective semifinal matches; Serbia to Turkey and Lithuania to USA, the two teams will try to at least salvage some national pride by battling it out for Third Place in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. They will...
8. Mascot Fight: Rufus the Bobcat vs Brutus the Buckeye It is a sports mascot’s job to pump-up the crowd. Before the college football game between Ohio University and Ohio State last September 18, a melee ensued between the team’s mascots, Rufus the Bobcat and Brutus the Buckeye when the...
9. 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship Can’t get enough of your daily dose of the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship? Watch the games in the various available live online streaming videos for free here. The 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship is expected to last from August...
10. 2010 FIBA World Championship | Semifinals Bracket After 5 games in the Preliminary Round and knockout games in the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals, teams slowly bowed down one by one until only 4 national basketball teams remain. Out of the original 24 teams all over the...

If you want to receive my latest posts, please subscribe to my full feed RSS or have them delivered through email. Just enter your email address below and hit the Subscribe button.

Tags: 2010 FIFA World Cup, mascot, zakumi