Capello's World Cup HQ
The small, unfashionable mining town of Rustenburg is set to be England's home from home during the 2010 World Cup.
It will be quite a contrast to their 2006 base, the boutique-lined resort of Baden Baden in Germany that was so popular with the WAGs.
England's exacting manager, Fabio Capello, inspected sites in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Polokwane, before settling on the Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus in Rustenburg.
Although the Football Association are guarded about their choice of base, and Campus spokesman Refilwe Mushi would only admit "we are in negotiations with a number of teams, including England", I understand England have agreed in principle to stay in Rustenburg.
With the Campus still under construction, the FA understandably wants guarantees the site will be be finished on time and to its specifications before signing a contract.
Capello's first priority was to find a base at altitude, because most of World Cup matches, including the final at Soccer City, will be on the Highveld. The Italian's other key considerations were security, quality of the training facilities, comfort of the accommodation and ease of travel to matches.
The Sports Campus ticked these boxes. Nestled at the foothills of the Magaliesberg Mountains in north-west South Africa, it is the highest of the World Cup bases, at 3,800 feet above sea level.
It is a quiet town, yet Sun City, South Africa's answer to Las Vegas, the Pilanesberg game reserve and some outstanding golf courses are within a short drive if England end up there and Capello allows his players any day trips.
Travel should be straightforward, with Pilanesberg airport only a 30-minute drive away.
But the biggest attraction of all is the fact the site is still under construction, allowing Capello to have the £20m complex built to his own personal specifications.
Reports in South Africa claim he has already asked for plasma televisions bringing in British channels in each of the rooms, an electric security fence around the perimeter of the site and superb training facilities with manicured pitches.
Former Spurs and England defender Gary Mabbutt, who is advising the organising committee on their World Cup team bases, says such requirements are not unusual.
"Most teams want single rooms for their players kitted out with wi-fi, plasma TV, satellite and Playstations," he told me.
"Remember that the teams are going to have one base throughout the World Cup and that their players will be spending a lot of time in them.
"They will probably also have a games room, where you have things like a pool table and table tennis. It's also a requirement that training facilities must be either on site or within a 15-minute drive of the team hotel."
Mabbutt spoke to the late Sir Bobby Robson and former Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann to establish the factors that added up to a perfect team base.
Rustenburg does not boast the same choice of shops as Baden Baden
A lot of teams wanted to stay at the Bafokeng complex, but England, and the 25,000 fans who are expected to come with them to South Africa, were the big draw for the Rustenburg authorities.
Gary Benham, head of communications for the British High Commission in South Africa, told me: "South African towns and cities are keen to host the big teams, and they don't come much bigger than England."
Tourist numbers in Baden Baden were estimated to have risen eight-fold when England stayed there during the 2006 World Cup in Germany, so hosting Capello's men would provide a massive boost to Rustenburg's economy.
The town is part of the Royal Bafokeng Nation, which is ruled by King Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi, the leader of Africa's richest tribe.
The Bafokeng's wealth is thanks to the luck of their territory straddling some of the world's most valuable deposits of platinum, allied to the foresight of their predecessors in acquiring legal title to the land in the 19th century.
King Kgosi Leruo is eager to diversify away from mining though, and recently unveiled Vision 2020, his plan for how to do so.
Sport is intended to play a major role. The Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg is home to the Platinum Stars team and will host group games and a second round match at the World Cup.
Providing a home for the England team would be another major boost for both the town and its people.
So Rustenburg will hope it can persuade the uncompromising Capello it can provide the perfect base from which to launch his World Cup bid.
England would be well advised not to hang around in signing on the dotted line for the Campus, because the big teams are already securing their bases for the World Cup.
Holland have informed the local organising committee they want to stay in Sandton, the plush business district of Johannesburg.
Brazil are keen on Bloemfontein, where they stayed during their victorious Confederations Cup campaign, while the hosts are leaning toward the Parktown area of Johannesburg.
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1st comment.
Admitedly on a fairly dull blog, who cares really about the England base, what next a profile of some WAGs
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1ST comment to reforse
evidently you care as you clicked on the link in the first place.
It shows how shrewd Mr Capello is and his attention to detail in the planning for next year reminds me of Clive Woodward. Let's hope for a similar outcome!
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dull but intresting 6/10 for me
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Gives us a good insight to the preperation involved in the run up to the best show on Earth.
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alcawe, who the hell do you think you are? No-one asked you to rate this blog. Well please allow me to rate your comment: No capital letters, no punctuation, spelling errors, poor sentence construction and how can something be dull but interesting? 0/10. Plonker.
I thought it was a fairly interesting article. It re-enforces my opinion of Mr Capello that he won't leave a stone unturned in his quest for success.
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It was woth reading for the picture of Cheryl Cole. She's fit.
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Hopefully the WAGs take a back seat this time around.
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Thanks for your comments. There was a technical problem yday meaning comments couldn't be posted, so sorry about that.
Good to see the blog get critiqued! I thought the topic was interesting as it shows how thorough and meticulous capello is. And I hadn't realised how important the choice of base was/ the fact teams are racing to get the best sites.
Perhaps it wasn't the best topic for debate though.
Keep the comments coming...
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Is Fabio going to allow the Wags to turn his World Cup preparations into another circus? I doubt it. This blog includes that Fabio wants a secure, electric perimeter fence. Is that to keep the Wags out or the players in?
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I thought the blog was quite interesting with all the preparation that must go in well in advance to this wonderful spectacle. It can be overlooked, the detail that must be adhered to to get the best out of the facilities and thus the players themselves.
Acclimatising to the altitude may yet prove to be one of the biggest challenges for this team. They may also suffer in extreme heat and humidity as they have done in the past.
The blog was also informative with regard to the geography and regional variation of South Africa with map included also. I never heard of Sun City until now but it sounds good.
Thanks for enlightening me about a beautiful part of the world that I will visit if the Republic of Ireland qualify for the World Cup. Fingers crossed.
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This has been very useful for me - thanks - I've booked my flights already (thank God as the fares have tripled since) … but it’s really useful to know this as I am a bit worried about being safe there. I’ve heard they have an average of 51 murders a day there … !!!
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The priority should strictly be high quality training facilities and appropiate altitude and nothing else. These luxuries like British TV channels are a distraction when players should be watching football videos/clips, perhaps meditating, listening to uplifting or relaxing music(depending on time and individual)or making an effort to bond with players from other/rival club teams
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Its showing how well Capello is planning, not leaving a stone unturned, in his quest for Glory. he reminds me of Clive Woodward before the 2003 Rugby world cup and we all know what happened that year, hopefully same will happen again
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If it hasn't changed dramatically in the last few years (including the climate, then Rustenburg is a hole. Which is probably why it was earmarked as a WC base - to bring an economic boost to the area, rather than to do any favours to the visiting squad. And I'd be wary of letting a bunch of young English men off the leash in Sun City!
Somewhere at altitude where a squad would feel really inspired would be the Drakensberg Mountains (a few thatched rondavels & some clay pitches should do it, no? ...And nowhere to misbehave ;-)).
Otherwise, as long as they only go out in large groups, the Dutch squad have probably booked the best site.
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Fabio Capello is going about in a confident way. His way of proceeding is drawing positive reactions from every side. Let's wish him well in all his endeavours.
Simon Austin has done well by putting the Map of South Africa before us.
Thanks.
Dr. Cajetan Coelho
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Great post - I'm a SAFFA and ex pro athelete so here's my take.
Sun City - Fantastic place but no where near Las Vegas. It's only 1 big casino/resort and not a big strip like Las Vegas.
Type "sun city, south africa" into google maps.
Altitude - I'm from the coast and altitude gets you big time. Look at how the international rugby teams suffer so good move for England.
Rustenberg - No appeal for the wags. Hopelly they wont nag the boys.
Fans - I'm not sure what group England are in but if they play there group games in Durban or Cape Town then that's where I'd base myself.
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