World Cup the stuff of dreams

Phumla Matjila: What is life if not in the moments that take your breath away? And what is the World Cup if not in the anecdotes that are being created as we get closer and closer to the opening ceremony of this soccer bonanza?

Three moments last week touched my heart - one warmed it, another set it on fire and the last quickened my heartbeat.

The first captured the quintessence of a boyish fantasy; the stuff that little boys' dreams are made of. And dreams did come true for a number of boys in Dobsonville, Soweto, when an afternoon of kicking an old leather ball stuffed with old plastic bags was interrupted.

With the grapevine awash with news that there were tickets to watch Brazil, the world's No1 team, practise in their backyard, the boys abandoned their game and joined other soccer fans at the Dobsonville police station to get tickets.

It was the sort of scene that would make an irresistible softdrink advertisement.

So, even as the bus carrying the Brazilian team finally entered the gates of the stadium on Thursday, many little boys still couldn't believe what they were about to witness. And the more they rubbed their eyes - which were already bloodshot from the dust the ball had kicked up when they had done the shibobo or the tsamaya earlier - the more surreal the experience became.

What a treat for soccer-loving boys!

Of course, the stadium was packed with fans of all types: girls, men and women, young and old. But it was an extra special moment for the boys who, when they play soccer, not only try to emulate the antics of their favourite players but also assume their name.

For these boys, Thursday was simply out of this world.

The World Cup, warts and all, has given them memories to cherish. It has also allowed them an intimate peek into how the five-times World Cup winners prepare for their games.

But more than that, watching Brazil play in Soweto showed them that dreams do come true.

The "ooh la la" moment that set my heart racing was a dapper-looking Ronaldo and some of his team-mates, dressed in black suits and white shirts, looking like they had just finished a shoot with GQ magazine.

Who knew football would be this exciting?

To drive the point home that nothing should matter more now than the World Cup, Vanity Fair magazine went big on soccer in its June issue.

Photographer Annie Leibovitz snapped the world's super-talented players under the titillating headline "The World Cup's stars wear their flags - and little else ."

The photograph that is sure to end up in teenage girls' scrapbooks is the whimsical group shot of Ghana's Sulley Muntari suppressing a giggle, American Landon Donovan pulling up a sock, Brazil's Kaka flexing his abs, Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o pointing us to his (ahem) shooting star and Brazil's Pato grinning naughtily.

Now I know why they call it the beautiful game!

Lastly, the digging, the building, the roadworks and the scaffolding, the rubble and road closures that have become a common feature in Johannesburg, all made sense when I heard that, from today, we can catch the high-speed Gautrain from Sandton to OR Tambo international - even if it's only to have a thrilling moment.