World governing body FIFA announced last week that 500,000 unsold tickets would be made available in a first-ever over-the-counter drive, and the response in the host nation has been emphatic.

More than 53,000 were sold in the first eight hours across 11 ticketing centres and hundreds of branches of First National Bank, one of the local sponsors of the global spectacle, while 23 matches - including the opening game, the two semi-finals and finals - sold out.

Most South Africans struggled to secure themselves a seat at the finals in the four previous sales phases - largely due to accessibility to the internet and credit cards.

This led to criticism from some quarters, who claimed the country was not showing enough support for the tournament.

But today's developments showed there was massive interest from locals with less than two months before kick-off.

"We don't want the (World Cup) experience to end at the stadiums or the match venues. We want to go beyond that," said Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the organising committee.

"People who visit our country must be able to enjoy many aspects of our culture and visit many iconic sites."

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke added: "We said from day one when South Africa won the rights to win the FIFA World Cup that we can't have empty seats.

"I'm very happy with the progress that has been made in the last four ticketing phases. What is important now is to sell the remaining tickets.

"This is the first FIFA World Cup in Africa. This is Africa's first opportunity to show the rest of the world that it's also capable to successfully host events of this magnitude.

"In a country where less than half of the population has access to internet, the over-the-counter sales have come as a welcomed innovation."

However, the day did not run entirely smoothly - police were called in to intervene at the ticketing centre in Pretoria after scuffles broke out due to overcrowding.

Computer systems were also down at some centres, causing plenty of frustration.

James Byrom, the project ticketing manager for MATCH South Africa, FIFA's official ticketing service provider, said: "There was a massive demand for tickets this morning, which we are delighted with.

"We experienced some delays in issuing tickets at the outset, but we have been working on improving the response time of the system.

"With the improvements we have already made, the process is getting quicker and we are confident it will continue to improve."

FIFA have already sold 2.2 million tickets for the June 11 to July 11 competition.

But the positive reaction of the fifth ticketing phase was also greeted by the news that less than half of the estimated 450,000 foreign visitors will now be arriving in the country during the tournament.

"Reality in the world has changed," Jordaan continued. "The global economic crisis had affected Britain and Germany, two of the biggest habitual sources of World Cup tourists, in a major way.

"For the first time banks were collapsing."

However, he tried to remain positive, adding: "I still think we can get to 300,000 (visitors).

"If England gets into the knockout stages and the quarter-final, you will see a second flood of fans arriving in this country."

England remain one of the top ticket-buying nations, with 67,654 sold in the country so far.