Pretoria, so long associated with South Africa's apartheid past, basked on Wednesday with a new sense of unity as the city rallied behind Bafana Bafana.
The World Cup hosts will play their second match of the 2010 tournament later on Wednesday in the city which was home to the courts which tried former President Nelson Mandela for treason before also hosting his inauguration in 1994.
On Wednesday thousands of black and white South Africans dressed in their team's colours mingled ahead of the match against Uruguay, revelling in a feeling of shared pride.
"I went to the opening ceremony and I saw the country come together really for the first time," Darren Kensley from Centurion told Reuters, sitting in a fan zone square and drinking beer with friends ahead of the game.
"I didn't expect that it could ever be like this. I'm not a racist but we just don't normally tend to come together like this. But now you can see the unity and the shared passion for the first time. Black or white, we're all feeling it."
Sandy Willard, sat drinking coffee in the bright afternoon sunshine, said she had not expected the World Cup atmosphere to reach as far as Pretoria, a small city home to international embassies known for a feeling of bureaucracy.
The vast granite Voortrekker Monument, a symbol of white Afrikaner rule, can be seen from many parts of the city.
"I think it took quite a long time (for the World Cup spirit) to spread to Pretoria," she said, behind dark sun glasses and with a small flag in hand.
"It took time for people to get spruced up and they were reticent and took the approach of lets wait and see. But now it's incredible, I think there was this kind of spontaneous combustion and everyone is coming together.
"I just wish we could bottle this atmosphere. There were all those stupid reports about crime and snakes on the pitch in places like England and I'd just love to send the atmosphere to those who didn't come, and say this is what you've missed."
Willard said a large part of the joyful atmosphere stemmed from the fact the tournament was going well, because so many tourists were in the city, and because Mandela had taken a personal role in hosting the games.
"I think the fact that Madiba is involved has a huge part to play because black, white, racist, whatever, they all love him," she said, referring to the 91-year-old who is widely seen to have helped sway the 2004 vote to award the Cup to the country.
"But you still couldn't have ever predicted it would be like this. The (local rugby team) Blue Bulls have played in Soweto because their stadium is being used for the World Cup. Soweto! I mean whatever next?"
Social worker Nigel Branken, walking with his family to the stadium on busy streets lined with stalls, said the country still faced huge problems of inequality and said he hoped they could maintain their new-found spirit once the tournament ended.
"This gives us a message," he said, as his small children chased each other around, blowing on vuvuzelas and waving their flag. "It says that if we can do this, if we can host an event like the World Cup, and do it well, then we can do anything.
"We need to tap the momentum, the spirit, the goodwill and the unity. Post conflict unity is a tough thing but this is going to be a major part of that story. South Africans can be quite negative but I feel today that being a South African is a privilege." - Reuters