The vuvuzelas are quieter, the Dutch are digesting defeat, the fans from around the world are making their way to the airports.

The morning after the grand final, vuvuzelas go silent

It's the day after the World Cup that wowed the world.

The vuvuzelas are quieter, the Dutch are digesting defeat, the fans from around the world are making their way to the airports.

"There is a degree of sadness today, but there's also a lingering sense of pride at what we achieved as a united country," Yasheera Rampersadh, a senior editor with the national news agency SAPA, told MiD DAY.

The doomsayers were wrong. No stab-proof vests were required, there were no lions in the streets and snakes in hotel closets, crime levels were nothing out of the ordinary.

More than 400,000 foreigners flew in. More than three million enjoyed the games at the magnificent stadiums. It will be remembered as one of the best-attended World Cups ever, never mind the empty seats in the hospitality category.

My enduring memory from this WC will be the hordes of young white South Africans passionately cheering for Ghana against Uruguay in that epic quarter-final at Soccer City. And on the bus ride back home, white kids breaking into a rendition of the SA working class anthem 'Shosholoza', with black kids joining in.

"I've never seen this atmosphere before, not even after the ANC's historic election win in 1994," said Yasheera. "The WC was a great way to correct the negative image of SA that's been fostered by some foreign media."

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who attended Sunday's final, said: "We have bedazzled ourselves, and the world, with our warmth, efficiency, beauty and our promise. Never before have we experienced this overwhelming joy of unity in purpose. There is simply no other team in our country that could dream of having all South Africans ufffd of all languages, races and classes ufffd literally blowing together in one note."

"We must ensure that Bafana Bafana is regularly given the opportunity to fill our new stadiums, playing against credible opposition," said Archbishop Tutu.

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