Revered Liverpool manager Bill Shankly famously said football was more important than a matter of life and death and fans visiting the Kruger National Park during the World Cup in South Africa are likely to see just that.
The park, South Africa's biggest, is one of the country's greatest tourist attractions and authorities want to ensure as many football fans as possible get to see it, part of efforts to hook visitors on the country for future visits.
Kruger, Africa's third largest game park, is close to Nelspruit, one of the World Cup's 10 venues and not far from another, Polokwane.
FIFA's travel agent arm, MATCH Event Services, is using Kruger as one of its seven tourist hubs or MATCH villes, where fans can enjoy a package of accommodation, tickets to follow their team and transport by air and bus to the stadiums.
Because of the numbers of predators in Kruger, fans will have a good chance between matches of experiencing the daily struggle for survival up close, cruising the park's 2,500 km of roads and dust tracks.
"The World Cup is not going to be soccer on a 24-hour basis...it will be about soccer plus other things as well," said Kruger CEO Abe Sibiya.
"This is a very important icon to put on the table, one of the best icons in Africa, the Kruger Park," he told reporters.
The World Cup is being held during the South African winter, low season for much of the country's tourist trade but the peak period for game viewing, when low foliage gives a much better chance of seeing cats and smaller animals.
"May, June and July, this is the best place to be. It will
