Zakumi The Mascot For South Africa World Cup 2010
Zakumi, the african leopard, was born on the 16th June 1994 - the year which marked the birth of democracy in South Africa. Obviously Zakumi the South African World Cup 2010 mascot has a strong emotional bond with the african people and the World Cup fans. FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke said:
“Zakumi represents the people, geography and spirit of South Africa, personifying in essence the 2010 FIFA World Cup. We are certain we will have a lot of fun with him in the lead-up to and during the FIFA Confederations Cup and the FIFA World Cup”
Zakumi, the official mascot for World Cup 2010 in South Africa, got its name from ‘ZA‘ the ISO code for ‘South Africa‘ and ‘kumi‘ a word that means ‘ten‘ in various African languages; it is ZA_KUMI. The original creator of the design is Andries Odendaal from Cape Town, and the mascot costume itself was produced by Cora Simpson of Cora’s Costumes in Boksburg.
1) Mascot Zakumi Biography
2) Zakumi - Official Mascot unveiled from FIFA
3) Zakumi - a Mascot with attitude from FIFA - The attitude article was exceptionally fun, read it and you will understand why.
HINT: Don’t forget that Zakumi will be 16 years old in year 2010
Comment by Trendist
↔ September 22, 2009 @ 10:52 am #
According to newspaper report Zaku was born in 1994, the year of South Africa’s first democratic elections, Zakumi was conceived by local designers as a symbol of the teenage Rainbow Nation, warts (or spots) and all.
I think its really cute.
Comment by WorldCupz
↔ February 10, 2010 @ 12:32 pm #
Trendist,
thank you for your detailed and precise info.
Hope to see you around
Comment by Ewan Hurt
↔ June 17, 2010 @ 8:54 am #
Even so early on this World Cup is really exciting! Did you know that 2,063 goals have been scored in World Cup Finals over the years. Wonder how the 2010 WC will add onto that.