POSTCARD FROM SOUTH AFRICA

Friday, July 28, 2006 | 7:48 a.m.

Former Bishop Gorman High and UNLV soccer star Victor "Boomer" Arbelaez Jr. traveled to South Africa last month to try out for Ajax Cape Town. He has since moved on to Bidvest Wits, another Premier League squad. He is filing occasional reports to the Sun about his adventure.

Manchester United was here for a South African tour, which worked out well since I had a recent weekend off. Friends and I drove to the beach in Umlanga, about 10 minutes from Durban.

We stayed at the Sands Hotel. While we were lounging on the sand, some kid ran up to us and said, "Hey guys, Man U just arrived and they're staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel!" It was just three hotels down the street, and I saw Ryan Giggs, Wes Brown and manager Sir Alex Ferguson, to name a few.

Man U beat Kaiser Chiefs, 1-0, earlier in the week. They had a game against Orlando Pirates the next day in Durban, and Man U won 4-0. It was so funny how they were staying so close to us.

Man U lost to Chiefs, 4-3 on penalty kicks, in the finale on Saturday. And guess what? I had a ticket to that game. A bunch of us went, and it was a madhouse in that stadium.

I haven't seen former South African president Nelson Mandela, but I'm sure he was at the game as well. The Red Devils met Mandela during their tour.

People here are really excited about the World Cup coming here in 2010. That's what most of them talk about. When the logo for the World Cup came out a few weeks ago, everyone went crazy. Some families even had barbecues.

I think it will be great for this country and will improve the level of soccer here. I don't think the country is prepared right now; there are good stadiums here and bad ones. They recently started foundations, though, for three new stadiums to be completed by 2009.

Some of their current stadiums just need ground repairs, while others need more capacity. But, with sponsors that have jumped in to donate money, I think the country will be ready.