TONIGHT as South Africa kicks off the 19th Fifa World Cup, not all maybe eager to shake a leg to the official song. Don't be surprised if you hear `boos' when Shakira sings Waka Waka along with a South African band Feashlyground.

The song was chosen by Fifa as the anthem for this year's world cup tournament. However, many South Africans have voiced their discontentment over a Latin American being given the privilege and not someone from the host country. Many from the same school of though are rooting for the Somaliaborn Canadian K'naan whose Waving Flag is being used by Coca-Cola as their campaign song. The resentment makes sense, but a look at the history of World Cup says that not all official songs have been sung by artists from the host country. Toni Braxton sang when Germany hosted the cup and Anastasia went Boom in 2002 when Japan and South Korea hosted the tournament.

The fact is no one really cares what the World Cup anthem is. The football and the players are what everyone has turned up or tuned in for.

However, there was one artist who made the anthem almost as big as the tournament itself -Ricky Martin. In 1998, when France played host to the World Cup playoff, Ricky sang La Copa De La Vida or the Cup of Life. Uno, dos, tres, Martin taught everyone how to count in Spanish. The song topped music charts in every country.

When the cup went to the US, the song We Are The Champions by Queen became the official song.

It is one of my personal favourite and probably the most apt song to play during any tournament.

However, the song was not a surprise for the audience. It was released during the late 70s and by 1994 Freddie was already history.

Cup of Life on the other hand was specially meant for football. The song has a perfect mix of words, expression and rhythm that makes it like a cheer song. The aggression starts right from the first line "you really want it" followed by the count in Latin and the cheering up `Alle, alle, alle' in the cheering up `Alle, alle, alle French. The energy in th music is in sync with the pace of football. It is also the perfect song for the World Cup because it uses different languages in the lyrics, like the tournament which is close to the hearts of many countries.

Fifa gave Ricky Martin a big platform and he gave football a song. Unlike Shakira, who has not released a big hit in the last few years, Ricky was just climbing the career hill when Fifa chose him. The 1998 World Cup proved to be a launch pad for the artist, who came up with another hit album Living La Vida Loca in the following year. The rest they say is history.

If France was Martin's springboard, what does South Africa have in store for Shakira?