Strong winds blow through Royal Bafokeng stadium

By Timothy Collings RUSTENBURG, South Africa (Reuters) - Strong winds and cold temperatures were set to create difficult conditions for Tuesday's Group F match between New Zealand and Slovakia in the first winter World Cup finals in more than 30 years. The tournament began in glorious sunshine last week but after a rain swept encounter between Italy and Paraguay in Cape Town on Monday, fans were wrapping up in heavy winter clothes at the Royal Bafokeng stadium on Tuesday. Strong gusts blew branches off trees and lightweight signage on the approach to the stadium was also flattened. In a stadium that is very much an open bowl with shallow-sided seating areas, the wind was blowing the corner flags strongly at times and this, together with the movement of the Jabulani ball, suggested an error- and incident-filled game was in prospect. The last World Cup finals to be held during the winter was the 1978 tournament in Argentina. (Editing by Nigel Hunt; To query or comment on this story email [email protected])