South African football has been whipped into a state of exhilaration that feels just as good as sipping champagne out of Shakira's belly button.

The air is full of excitement, the feel-good factor palpable and there's plenty to look forward to as SA harvests the benefits of having hosted last year's successful World Cup.

Just like the space shuttle Atlantis that rocketed off its seaside launch pad in Florida recently, everything within the local soccer fraternity is soaring. If last season was not ideal for those with heart conditions, things could get worse for them as the tension rises this term.

The crowds are slowly coming back and the country's two biggest clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, are reclaiming their positions after years of playing bridesmaids to SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns. When Chiefs and Pirates are hot, the entire country catches a fever.

The running of the sport by mother body Safa is no longer catastrophic - it's safe to say they can continue for another five years without disaster. The PSL continues to break barriers in world TV trends and competitions, although isn't it about time their marketing department was injected with the exuberance of youth?

No disrespect to Professor Ronnie Schloss, Leepile Taunyane, Peter Mancer and Derek Blackensee, but are these old toppies jazzy enough to lure young and sexy spectators to matches.

The product is looking better on television and there's plenty for couch potatoes who can easily gulp down four matches between Saturday and Sunday.

Clubs are playing in state-of- the-art facilities. Moroka Swallows striker Mpho Maleka once described the change rooms at Mbombela Stadium as bigger than his house. Even the coaches are dumping their tracksuits and crimplene suits for designer labels - improvements everywhere.

Gone are the days when SA football was like minister of basic education Angie Motshekga - not very pretty to look at but of inestimable value to the die-hard supporters since the dark days.

The PSL used to be a gold mine for journalistic scoops and Safa employees leaked stories to the media like the Arsenal defence concedes goals. They back-stabbed each other so much that former Bafana coach Augusto Palacios once said: "You must walk with your back literally pressed against the wall if you don't want a knife to be plunged in."

Eccentric characters such as Benni McCarthy, Julio Leal and Johan Neeskens are the kind of colourful personalities that the local game has been short of for many years. It's still early days yet, but action on the field is now something to write home about. The square passes having improved from the days when the accuracy of crosses in the league was usually associated with boozers in a tavern urinal.

Bafana are about to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. They have been climbing up the Fifa rankings and have lost only once since Pitso Mosimane took over after the World Cup. They have conceded just one goal in the nine matches and goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune now has more clean sheets than a staunch Catholic schoolgirl. They even went to Cairo and left the inimitable Pharaohs mummified - what cheek!

The home-and-away MTN8 matches between Chiefs and Ajax Cape Town were played at breakneck speed. Pirates and Sundowns were not to be outdone and dished up a two-legged seven-goal thriller that ended in tears for the Mamelodi side.

The upcoming back-to-back Soweto derbies have sparked fierce debate. The giants have awoken, Bafana are back, players are showing some mongrel in their tackling and Computicket cash tills are going ching, ching.

Let the good times roll!