It has been a superbly marshalled exercise in spin: as the Financial Times said on Tuesday, the World Cup, "it is generally agreed, has been a triumph". This is the first measure of its success: as an act of rebranding or public diplomacy -- to use the new posh term of national marketing.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will arrive in South Africa with a delegation of seven ministers on Thursday for a four-day visit, the department of international relations said. Lula da Silva and President Jacob Zuma hoped to sign a declaration launching a South Africa-Brazil strategic partnership, as well as a memorandum of understanding on inter-governmental co-operation, it said.

Accompanied by a trade mission of over 30 senior executives and leading companies from South Africa’s mining, metals and capital equipment sectors, the first of four sectors to be profiled during the promotion, the delegation has arrived in Shanghai to introduce investment opportunities in South Africa, identify opportunities in China and enhance existing trading activities.

As the lone African team still in the running to win the first World Cup in Africa, Ghana is picking up a cohort of new supporters among locals.The vast majority of South Africans initially supported Bafana Bafana, the host country’s national soccer team, but after the team’s early exit many have had to pick a new favorite.

[Former President Bill] Clinton characterized soccer as a potential tool of diplomacy and understanding--a constructive, entertaining and "safe" means of working out some of the conflicts that invariably arise among nations and disparate cultures.

Other than at the 38th parallel on the Korean peninsula, the closest proximity that Americans and North Koreans have recently found themselves is in South Africa at the World Cup...In South Africa, though, it has been civilian athletes from the two countries rotating through the same stadiums in what is an admirable expression of human rivalry: competitive sports.

World Cup stadiums have had gaping holes where people should be...Sports analysts call it embarrassing, FIFA officials admit that it’s concerning, and ordinary South Africans fret that it is yet another sign that these World Cup games will not bring the prosperity that they had been promised by FIFA and by South African politicians.

As the host of 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa aims to create a more compelling, dynamic brand image of the country. Its Consul General in Shanghai discusses the South African brand and its co-branding with the World Cup at the Expo.