Thieves strike again

Africans are praying the month-long tournament will counter what they see as old caricatures of hunger, AIDS and crime in world media that fails to grasp the continent's modern face.

But robberies against foreign journalists have undercut that message for thousands of reporters covering the event, giving a reminder of crime as bad as almost anywhere outside a war-zone.

In the latest incident, Chinese journalists were robbed in their car, the embassy said on Thursday.

Another negative for the tournament is an extraordinary injury list full of big names.

The latest scare was over Switzerland captain Alex Frei, who is doubtful for their opener against Spain next week after hurting an ankle in training.

Health-permitting, former political prisoner and president, Nelson Mandela, 91, intends to make an appearance at Friday's opening match, hoping to inspire the nation as he did for the Rugby World Cup in 1995 that South Africa won. The party was to officially start on Thursday night with a concert in South Africa's biggest township, Soweto.

In the camp of little-fancied Slovakia, it was a family affair as coach Vladimir Weiss sought to avoid any accusations of favoritism towards his son and player of the same name. "I am very strict with him, much stricter with him than other players," the coach said on the training pitch.