Vialli, who starred as a striker for the Italian international football team and Juventus in the late 1980s and early 1990s jetted into SA on Friday on a business trip along with another ex-Italian football star Nicola Caricola, who is married to gorgeous SA model Tanya Fourie.

Both Vialli and Caricola took advantage of a few hours of relaxation by putting in a round of golf on the Beachwood gold course on Friday, and will be present at the final of the Vodacom Challenge, to be contested between Kaizer Chiefs and Congolese side TP Mazembe, at the Absa stadium on Sunday.

A regular visitor to Cape Town, Vialli, who has a South African-born girlfriend, said that he has always had a soft spot for the passion and flair of SA football, and believes that the rainbow nation has the necessary infrastructure to allow it to be the first African country to play host to the world’s greatest football showpiece.

“SA certainly has the correct sort of football stadiums and support structure for it to meet the criteria of hosting a FIFA World Cup, and this would be magnificent for the cause of African football,” said Vialli.