President of FIFA, Mr. Sepp Blatter… General Secretary, Dr. Urs Linsi…Members of the Executive Committee… I am privileged to stand before you today as the representative of South African Footballers, past and present.

Like millions of others, I started playing football in the townships, in the dust, every available minute of the day from the moment the African sun appeared in the east until it slipped away in the west.

I was fortunate to rise through the ranks and eventually play for Orlando Pirates, but these were the days of apartheid, when football found itself last in the queue for facilities and funding. We played in a kind of darkness, denied opportunity by the minority government, denied any interaction with the football world.

But we played and, even in this kind of darkness, legendary players emerged as heroes of their oppressed communities.

Then, in our heyday, my team-mates and I could only dream of just playing in the FIFA World Cup, let alone of playing in a FIFA World Cup on our own soil, in our own stadiums before our own people in the stands. These were our dreams, wild, crazy dreams.

Personally, I yearned to play overseas, and was again fortunate to have the chance to play in the United States, to compete alongside legends like Pele and Franz Beckenbaur, to experience a world of football from which many of my peers were denied.

Ultimately, I returned home, to South Africa, and decided to start a new club, which became known as the Kaizer Chiefs, Amakhosi, the Glamour Boys of South African football. Today, our supporters club includes more than a million card-carrying members.

Mr. President, this is my story.

My time has passed. My team-mates and I have had our day on the field. We played in our own time, in our own way.

However, now, in 2003, maybe a little wider, maybe a little greyer, as administrators, we are eager to play our part and add our voice to our country’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2010.

Our dreams, the dreams of generations of South African footballers through the years, the dreams that so long seemed so forlorn, have been wonderfully revived in the players of today.

In this bid, Mr. President we are all 18 years old again.

South African footballers of yesterday, today and today unite in endorsing this Bid Book, as the document that, we dearly trust, will bring our dreams to reality, before our eyes, in 2010.

Thank you.