The England Supporters' Band has vowed to compete against the deafening sound of the vuvuzela at the Football World Cup - and said the traditional instruments should not be banned.
The brass orchestra, which has not missed an England game home or away since 1996, promised "the band will play on" despite the din of the South African horns.
Trumpeteer John Hemmingham, who is leading an eight-man team, said the plastic instruments were part of the local culture and should not be banned from inside stadiums.
Mr Hemmingham, from Sheffield, said the vuvuzelas would be a memorable feature of this World Cup and were overall a "good thing".
Some broadcasters and players have complained about the noise of the vuvuzelas and there have even been calls for a ban.
But Mr Hemmingham said: "It's the way the South Africans express their joy and pleasure at the tournament being here. It's certainly a challenge for us but there's no point winging about it."
After England took on the US in Rustenburg on Saturday, football pundit Chris Kamara complained the noise was stopping fans from generating chants around the ground.
But Mr Hemmingham said: "We didn't have any problem. The fans around us were all singing along. And a lot of our fans were joining in with us using their vuvuzelas. It all added to the atmosphere.
"There was definitely a different vibe about the place. The South Africans are loving it. And when in Rome, you just have to go along with it.
"I bet there is not a single South African player complaining about the vuvuzela. They see it as more than just a noise, it's about the whole spirit of the thing."
Host South Africa left all-time leading scorer Benni McCarthy off its World Cup squad, while Gareth Barry hopes to make England's 23.
Although many of the 32 teams had already set their final squads ahead of FIFA's deadline on Tuesday, defending champion Italy and former winners Germany and England are among those who left it until the final day.
So did the host country, which made the widely expected decision not to include McCarthy. The 32-year-old striker, who has scored 32 goals in 78 games for South Africa, has struggled with fitness and form all season while playing in England for Blackburn then West Ham.
"It was a sad thing to have to split apart our family," coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said at a news conference as he announced the six players who will not play in the first World Cup to be staged in Africa.
"But I told them, 'Put your heads up; life goes on. All of you deserve to be here.' Unfortunately we have to obey FIFA rules and we can only name 23."
South Africa have named a 29-man preliminary squad as they step up their World Cup preparations. Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is the man charged with the task of steering the hosts to glory on home soil, with much expected of the Brazilian and his troops.
Among those called upon by the South American are four players currently plying their trade in the Premier League. West Ham striker Benni McCarthy is handed an international recall, while Everton's Steven Pienaar, Portsmouth's Aaron Mokoena and Fulham's Kagisho Dikgacoi also make the squad.
Six names will be cut from the preliminary line-up before the finals get underway on 11th June. "We have been preparing this process for three years and a lot of factors were taken into consideration," Parreira said on revealing his selections.
"I'm happy with the players we have selected and I want to concentrate on them, not those who didn't make it."
FIFA 2010 World Cup hosts, South Africa, have taken a squad of 29 predominantly local-based players on a month-long tour of Brazil to prepare them for the June tournament.
Ranked 81st in the world, Bafana Bafana are considered to be one of the weakest among Africa’s six representatives for the world’s biggest soccer showpiece, which begins on June 11.
In a bid to achieve his difficult contractual task of taking the hosts to their first ever appearance in the second round, Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira decided to take the Bafana players to a tour of his native country, where he hopes to instil soccer basics and add some Brazilian flare into their style of play.
As most European leagues have reached their home straight, Parreira named only two foreign-based players into his provisional squad on Thursday, barely 24 hours after he had seen his charges grind to a disappointing 1-1 draw with lowly Namibia at Durban’s Moses Mabhida stadium.
According to The Zimbabwean, Bafana will camp in Brazil – playing friendly matches against some of that country’s top sides, for close to a month, after which they will hold another training camp in Germany early next month.
“I do not want to be disrespectful to small sides, but we badly need to play big sides like Denmark and Argentina to gauge our progress,” said Parreira late last week. “After Brazil and the camp in Germany, we will have a stronger base, be fitter and much better prepared than we were against Namibia where I had one day to work with the squad.”
After play four training games against Brazilian club sides, Bafana will meet Paraguay, whom they beat 3-0 on home soil in 2008.
The Brazilian, who won the 1994 World Cup and reached the 2002 quarterfinals while still coaching Brazil, is optimistic of realising an improved performance from the South Africans after the tour.
“The camp in Brazil was not easy to organise, but it will lay the foundation for our World Cup preparations,” he said.“I did the same with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the past and the camps were all successful.” “You cannot walk into a supermarket and buy experience. This is the only way — going to Brazil and Germany and learning.” Parreira said his philosophy was simple: “I want Bafana to learn to play it simple. We need to give a face and identity to South African soccer.”
Drawn in Group A, Bafana open the World Cup with a tough game against Mexico at the SoccerCity stadium, in Johannesburg on June 11. They will also have to go past Uruguay and France before they progress to the second round.
