Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, South Africa

In my previous post I mentioned how some of the soccer stadiums in South Africa have some great design as far as stadium design goes.  Mbombela Stadium is probably my favorite, mostly because of how the seats are painted to form one giant zebra pattern.  I don't know why more stadiums don't form patterns with the seats, maybe because designers figure no one would see the patterns since people will be sitting in the seats?  Another cool feature of this stadium is the tension rods in the shape of giraffes:

Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg

What has really caught my eye in the 2010 World Cup, besides the soccer itself, are the awesome-looking stadiums in South Africa.  The most prominent of those stadiums is Soccer City in Johannesburg.  I'm not sure how to describe it, but I'm sure the phrase "alien spaceship" has been used many times by lots of people.

Anyone who has been watching ESPN's broadcasts of the games has surely noticed Soccer City in the background during halftime and postgame commentary.  It's that oval shaped thing with the crazy-looking lights.  The effect of the lights makes it seem as if someone poked holes in the exterior of the stadium so that the light inside could peek out.  It's brilliant.  According to Soccer City's Wikipedia page, the design of the exterior was inspired by the look of an African pot.