The 2010 FIFA World Cup Report/Sports Thread #3 For 6/16/10: Youth Day In South Africa

The emotion of sports on an emotional day in South Africa.

Just a tragic event to always remember, especially for those in South Africa:

Amid World Cup fervor, South Africa observed a bittersweet holiday Wednesday with a cleansing ritual and other remembrances of Soweto students whose 1976 protest ignited a bloody and pivotal phase of the anti-apartheid struggle.

"We're celebrating what the youth of '76 was fighting for — and grieving for the loss of life," said 19-year-old Mbali Malinga, summing up the mixed emotions as she waited with her youth choir to sing at a wreath-laying ceremony.

Known as Youth Day, the holiday had an extra electricity this year because of the World Cup — and because South Africa's national team, Bafana Bafana, was playing a crucial game in the evening in Pretoria against Uruguay.

A day of pure emotion for the house nation.