JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nelson Mandela has called it a “great pleasure” to see Ghana in the World Cup quarterfinals.
In a letter sent Friday to the president of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi, South Africa’s former president wrote that “on the historic occasion of the first FIFA World Cup to be hosted in Africa, it is a great pleasure to see that Ghana has reached the quarterfinals.”
Mandela wrote that “we join everybody on the continent … in wishing you success in the tournament going forward,” according to his foundation.
Ghana’s national team, the Black Stars, was the only African team to reach the second round of the continent’s first World Cup.
It plays Uruguay in Johannesburg on Friday night in the second quarterfinal.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.