Eastlands is the stage for Saturday’s huge Manchester derby and Gavin Beech previews the big match.

Thousands of South African fans queued overnight for a chance to buy 500,000 unsold World Cup tickets.

Fifa agreed on Wednesday to drop a ruling that sales could only be made online or through a ballot procedure.

Many South Africans had complained the original process, by which tickets were sold through Fifa’s website or in a ballot at a local bank branch, excluded people without web access, credit cards.

“We are excited about these new initiatives, which make the process much easier for everyone,” said World Cup 2010 boss Danny Jordaan.

“We have always said that it is important that we make this World Cup more accessible to the people and with over the counter sales, we believe this measure is consistent with the needs of the fans.”

Demand in South Africa had initially been sluggish but the most recent phase saw 85% of the 240,000 tickets sold between February and the beginning of April go to locals.

Fifa has since revealed that 2.2m tickets have been sold for the tournament, which kicks off on 11 June.

Eastlands is the stage for Saturday’s huge Manchester derby and Gavin Beech previews the big match.

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