South Africa staged a glitzy ceremony of World Cup draw on Friday as Nelson Mandela said his country was humbled to host the soccer spectacular event for the first time on the continent. Mandela, now a frail 91-year-old and who spent 18 years on the bleak Robben Island prison offshore from Cape Town under white rule, sent a video message from his home in Johannesburg. 'We feel privileged and humbled that South Africa has been given the singular honor' of holding Africa's first World Cup, he said. 'We must strive for excellence, to ensure the event leaves a lasting legacy for all our people,' added Mandela, who became South Africa's first post-apartheid president in 1994 after spending 27 years in jail. Africa's biggest economy has shrugged off persistent scepticism about its ability to stage the world's most watched sporting event and it pulled out all the stops for the draw, which will decide the first round matches among the 32 teams. Organisers fielded three Nobel Prize winners including Mandela, famous actress, Oscar winner Charlize Theron, in hosting the draw. International soccer greats, including England's David Beckham and former players Eusebio of Portugal, Roger Milla of Cameroon, Germany's Franz Beckenbauer and France's Michel Platini, who is the UEFA president, were also present. As promised, the ceremony, watched by an estimated world television audience of 250 million from 200 countries, had a distinctly continental flavor with African dance troupes and singers fronted by Angelique Kidjo from Benin. The program included a video apparently showing lions, elephants and other wild animals playing soccer in the bush. Theron, dressed in a bright red ball gown, said she was proud to come home from America where she lives most of the time. Current President Jacob Zuma, who also took part in the ceremony, said: 'We are very proud as South Africans and Africans' to host the World Cup, adding that everything was ready and on schedule for the tournament. Zuma was sure the trophy would remain in Africa at the end of the month-long tournament, starting on June 11 next year. 