Dear South Africa,

My family and I would like to thank you for opening your home to the world and for hosting us all so warmly and lovingly during this World Cup.

As one of your millions of children, the past month will go down as one of the most memorable and deeply moving experiences of my life.

Your graciousness abounded as you opened your home... our home... my home - to a world of skeptics and cynics who seemed to want us to fail.

But failing was never an option as you smiled quietly when the prophets of doom spoke nonsense (some would say "kak").

No, you stood tall, you renovated, you built on, tidied up, watered the plants and mowed the lawns, you scrubbed the floors, and cooked up a storm... and then you - no we - opened our doors.

My family and friends thank you for bringing us together as we cooked (how to cook an octopus topped the agenda of any ’food talks’), as we took bets, lost money, argued, and became soccer experts! My 3 best friends - the people least likely to have ever watched a single soccer game before this, but who are now experts of all things soccer - would like me to ask my Supersport colleagues to please consider giving them a permanent soccer show. Sure.