Soccer in South Africa

Yesterday the group finally landed at JNB. We all decided to just go out to a restaurant and then head back to the hotel to rest up for the day ahead of us.  Today we all decided that it would be great to just get around and explore the wonderful city of Johannesburg.  My favorite place to visit was the FNB stadium, or Soccer City.  This stadium was the venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals.  Soccer is a great sport that is played by thousands of South Africans.  It first started out around 1879 when European Immigrants would play against the British military troops that were occupying the country.  Fast forward to around 1890, two Englishmen founded their own club in Cape Town called the Pioneers FC.  Around 10 soccer clubs had been created in South Africa by this time.  South Africa's Football Association, known as the FA of South Africa had been created in 1889 and was the first league to represent a national team.  The national team traveled to England for their first overseas tour in 1898.  The racial integration that South African soccer has brought to the public has helped to break the apartheid barriers and many more problems.  Professional soccer was first brought to the minds of South Africans around 1959, today, it is known as the Premier Soccer League.  In 1992, the country became part of the FIFA crowd.  South Africa has received tremendous success in the soccer community.