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WEEKLY
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| Hollywood meets Beckham at draw |
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Wednesday, December 02, 2009
CAPE TOWN: A touch of Hollywood comes to Cape Town this week with Academy Award winner Charlize Theron joining David Beckham, running great Haile Gebrselassie and a host of others at the World Cup draw.
The South African-born Theron, who won an Oscar for her role in the 2003 movie ‘Monster’, will be a guest presenter assisting FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke during the eagerly-anticipated draw on Friday.
They will be joined onstage by Beckham, who has scored in three consecutive World Cups, nine-time world champion Gebrselassie and Makhaya Ntini, the first black player in the South African cricket team.
Also taking part is South African rugby captain John Smit, while the country’s president Jacob Zuma will kick-off proceedings alongside FIFA president Sepp Blatter, organisers said on Tuesday.
Nobel Peace Prize winners FW de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as well as former football icons Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Eusebio and Roger Milla will also be on hand.
Ageing former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, one of the architects of the first African World Cup, will address the audience by video message.
“This is a very important event for football and Africa as the Final Draw comes to Cape Town where an unprecedented six teams from the host continent will be represented,” said Valcke.
“We expect a record global audience which I hope will be glued to their screens for the duration of the show.”
An estimated 250 million people are expected to watch the draw on television, where the 32 teams who have qualified will find out who they play and where.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
