FWC 2010: Uruguay v Ghana

As Gyan stepped to take the penalty on the last minute of extra time, the ground was in ruptures; willing for him to convert, and "make history". It was a well deserved place to be in - except for the first 20 odd minutes, where Uruguay definitely had control; Ghana played really well, and looked the better team. They seemed to be running harder, trying harder, and playing better.

It would have been well deserved - Ghana were the best African team this year. And it's not only because they got to the quarter finals. They played better than the Nigerians and Cameroonians - and they handled the loss of their star player better than Ivory Coast. They did scrape by in the group stages, but played each match to win.

Sadly it was not to be - and despite the consolation from his team mates; I think everyone knew it was not going to be Ghana's night after his miss. Gyan was devastated after the penalty shootout, so much that he was almost carried off the field by his teammates afterwards. And the Uruguaians carrying Suaraz (who deliberately handled the ball to stop a certain goal) in celebrations after the penalty shootout rubbed salt into the wounds of the near 80 000 Ghanaian supporters (there were about 85 000 people in the ground, and except for a small section of Uruguay supporters, everyone else spotted red, black and yellow).

The world cup in South Africa, has been a great success in most respects. Every one of the visitors I have spoken to have loved their experiences. A Canadian family I met on the bus to the stadium was gushing about how much they have enjoyed their travels in South Africa; a traveller from, I think Malta (or one of the mediteranean Island countries) was looking forward to his first game drive in the Kruger on Sunday while the Australians on the bus to Sandton were very complimentary about the service they had recieved in their hotels and guesthouses (although they thought the Metrobus system could have been done better in terms of ticketing).

And the fans, have been very colourful - as per the photo below. I had great seats yesterday, 8 rows (actually 6 since, the first 2 were blocked out) from the corner flag - allowing me to get some really cool pictures of the game.

FWC 2010: Argentina v Mexico

Sunday's match was the most competetive and most exciting match I have attended at the World Cup so far. This time, I went with a friend and his family using the park and ride at Gold Reef (allowing us to see Germany's thrashing of England) - though I think this was a lot less effecient when compared to the bus system I used for the previous game.

One of the great things about the World Cup, is the array of colourful fans that attend the event. There are off course the supporter clubs, this one being from Argentina, but there are also the stunning sombreros etc. Certain footbal traditions such as the toilet paper rolls being thrown on to the field have also been transported to South Africa - although they were cleaned up pretty quickly. So it is not only the export of the vuvuzela to the wider world - but also the import of various fan regalia.






Drums and celebration using drums are nothing new in football, and the Argentians were in high spirits after the game (and apparently it carried on inside!). Though I think the medley of drums and vuvuzelas at the Ghana v Serbia game was a lot more interesting!



Maradona has been criticised a lot, although he has succeeded well so far. But no one can really criticise his involvement at training. In the warm up before the game, he was very much involved in training with the players - instead of standing back and barking instructions. Maybe that is one of the factors behind his success?





Tevez's first goal was clearly offside from where I was perched - but that didn't stop any celebrations from the Argentians around me once the goal was given by the referee - although they did seem to accept it was offside once it was inadvertantly shown on the big screen; leading to the players' protests. But this also showed how easy it would be to deploy television replays as part of the game in large tournaments. The entire process took less than a minute; and big screens ensured that it was fair and easy for every one to judge.


My side of the pitch featured 3 goals, and I did manage to capture Higuain catching the stray pass from Osorio, on his way to the goals.

There are not that many games left in this world cup, and my last live game is tomorrow, where I hope the Ghanaians finally beat the Uruguayans.

South Africans Supporting African Teams

While waiting for the game to start, C, the diplomat, had asked a very interesting question - are South Africans genuinely supporting African teams like Nigeria, Ghana etc. or is it a hype made up by the media? It is a very pertinent question - South Africans of late have had a history of xenophobia, and some of our fellow African brothers have less than stellar reputation (Nigerians anyone?).

In some respect, support for Ivory Coast because of Drogba, or supporting Cameroon because of Eto'o is not surprising - but would we support Ghana without Essien, and what about Algeria?

I was at the FIFA Fan Park at Mary Fitzgerald square in Newtown last night for the screening of the USA v Ghana match; and I found that there is genuine support for the Ghanaians. It did help that they played great football - but the true nature of support can be easily ascertained when fans heckle the referee for legitimate calls going against "your" team, show despair at the opposition's goals etc.

Last night was a great game, and yes, South Africans are behind Ghana. And I am looking forward to their match against Uruguay on Friday night.

Transport Blues?

Apart from security, the next biggest fear about the world cup was the transport system - or the lack thereof. In the space of 3 days last weekend, I got experience both the highs and lows of the transport system.

For the matches at Loftus in Pretoria, I used the Park and Walks. What was amazing was the efficiency - not only in the signage and policing - but also how little time (comparatively) it took to actually get in and out of the stadium. In the Denmark v Cameroon games, I got home 65 minutes after the final whistle had blown. I drove to the same area this morning for work, and it took 25 minutes. Given the volume of people leaving the stadium - that was really impressive.

For the match at Soccer City on Sunday - I decided to park at Sandton City, and then make use of the Metrobus to the City Centre, and then the Rea Vaya, bus rapid transport system to the stadium. The tickets were R50 return, and a further R9 for parking at Sandton City - not bad in my opinion. The return trip - from the end of the match to getting into my flat, took under 90 minutes, which is very respectable.

This mode seemed to be very popular, with a lot of tourists making use of it; and with a very festive atmosphere (esp with the bunch of Brazilian fans that got on the bus with us). It was not a smooth start. With tickets being needed to be bought on board; and our general lack of orderly queues, it was a bit of chaos to actually board the bus. While I have had similar experiences in many other countries (Peru, Brazil and India stand out), it could have been controlled a lot better. But then again, this is Africa.



But thereafter, it was a pleasure. The bus dropped us of at Westgate BRT station, where there were a lot more orderly queues to board the BRT buses to Soccer City. The attendants were helpful and the system really works.

It was the first time I have used public transport in Jo'burg, and I was truly impressed. And the other South Africans with us were seemingly also impressed - especially the BRT. Not all South Africans - among the people in our bus from Sandton were three teenage girls (sisters I believe), who were quite spoilt and was aghast that they were actually going into town (the standout comment - "Town, eewwww gross. Mommy - you didn't say we were going to town!"). Their parents were however quite impressed - and stated as much.

Early Monday morning however, also brought out the deficiencies in our transport system. A Mexican/American friend of mine (and his girlfriend) were wanting to travel to Rustenburg for the Uruguay v Mexico game; and there does not seem to be any transport arrangements in this regard. A number of shuttle services charge outrageous amounts of R1500+ for a return trip. While they had booked a car, his credit card had a huge block from a previous rental (when he went to Polokwane to watch the Mexico-France game). Luckily, I managed to help him out with the transport arrangements - but what about all those people who were travelling alone?

The transport arrangements at the World Cup shows that we can do this correctly, and do it well. It has also shown the areas we need to improve on - the ticketing, the queueing and the coverage. This is all good news - I just hope that we keep on implementing these. And I hope, that in future sporting events - be it cricket, rugby or football; we carry on using these arrangements.

FWC 2010: Brazil v Côte d'Ivoire

Soccer City is an amazing stadium - not only beautiful at night, but also really good organisation (even with the inevitable disorganised South African queues at the security check points). Very spacious, it really defines what sport stadiums should be like! And with a near full house (over 95% attendance), it was an absolutely amazing atmosphere.



The Brazilians truly dress up for the occasion, and while Zakumi draped in a Brazilian flag was a stuffed doll, there were people dressed in various animal costumes, a fan dressed as a Mexican wrestler cum super-hero and a whole lot more. And there were plenty of replica world cup trophies; leaving no doubt on the expectations that the fans have of their team.



The game itself was high scoring, and with the red card for Kaka, featured a bit of everything. But the Ivorians were mostly outclassed - not in their ability to stand up to the Brazilians, but in two crucial areas: bad defending (and communication at defence) and even worse passing. Countless opportunities were lost where the pass was just too strong, and the striker or wing just not being able to get to it in time. There was also some rather bad decision making in terms of passing to the wrong player or not striking or passing the ball when there seemed to be an opportunity.





This is the only Category 1 ticket I bought for my games, and had an amazing view of the game; which also allowed to take some nice pics. I really enjoyed the Soccer City experience, and look forward to my next two matches there.

FWC 2010: Cameroon v Denmark

Ultimately, this ended up being a fairly depressing night for African football, as one of the best African teams on paper, became the first team to crash out, without scoring a point. It had started so well, but Cameroon fluffed so many chances, they trully did not deserve to win.

It was a great game from the Danish perspective, and the Danish fans were a great bunch (I was surrounded by them). They played better football overall, and had some very fast counter attacks.

Loftus, was once more, not full - and yet again it seems mostly to be the hospitality sections. Maybe Loftus, being the stronghold of the Bulls, just has too many hospitality suites and not enough standard seats; but empty seats are not good signs regardless.

Supporter Clubs

One of the impressive aspects of the FWC, is the "Supporter Clubs". The temporary dimplomat from Saturday explained, that there are a number of supporter clubs in Europe, especially Germany, who go round the world watching football matches. The supporter clubs rank up "points" on the games they show their banners at - although he was unsure of what the points entailed.

Grosblie, is one of those prominent clubs - but there are a lot more - and they certainly lend an interesting dimension to the experience.

FIFA Fan Park

I decided to go watch the Spain v Switzerland match at one of the FIFA Fan parks; and had initially decided on Innesfree Park in Sandton. However, the parking arrangements for the fan park is convoluted, and not exactly welcoming - so decided to head to the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown instead; where parking is literally round the corner.

The Fan parks are well set up, with plenty of food and beverage stalls; as well as various other smaller stalls selling clothing, DVDs (bliksem DVD is an awesome concept), crafts etc. The atmosphere was festive, and despite the bitter cold; people were thoroughly enjoying themselves. There was also some DJs and dancing during the half time break on the stage.

FWC 2010: Serbia v Ghana

Match 8, Serbia v Ghana, is the first of my 5 FIFA World Cup Games, and took place at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. One of the standout achievements of the World Cup so far, has been the organisation - which has run almost like clockwork. And it was evident at Loftus. I used the park and walk and not only was it easy to find and navigate to; but getting out was a comparative breeze. From getting into the car, to reaching home (about 35 Km away), it took just over an hour - and about 30 minutes of that was in the parking lot. As a comparison, it took over an hour, just to get out of the parking lot at Carnival City! Even then, suggestions can be made - like starting to fill the parking lot from the front; so first arrivals get better spots.

The game was rowdy - as can be expected. Not only was there the buzzing vuvuzelas, but also a range of drums and trumpets - mostly from the Ghanaian supporters, who easily outnumbered the Serbian supporters. And the team showed appreciation - not only greeting the fans after the match around the stadium; but also before the beginning of the match.

Ghana played the better football throughout the match - they seemed to be a lot faster, a lot more skilled and more hungrier to win. That said, this only seemed to apply to the 80% of the pitch - the moment they came to the 20% near the Serbian goalpost, their passing strayed, their shots were wide and the headers were off mark. That said, Ghana was quite unlucky(or Serbia was very lucky) in having two attempts bouncing off the goalposts. The score of 1-0 reflected correctly that the better side was Ghana, but while both sides had plenty of chances, neither actually got to scoring in the field of play.

The stadium was surprisingly not full although most of the free seats seemed to belong to boxes; which probably means that there was a huge number of hospitality seats that were not sold. I wonder if FIFA does fireside sales to drive up attendance for poorly sold matches. It was a great experience, and am looking forward to my next match on Saturday, Cameroon v Denmark, also at Loftus.

Flamengo vs Vasco da Gama

Football - nothing is more Brazilian I think. And a match at the world famous Maracana stadium, involving the two biggest names in Brazilian football, Flamengo and Vasco da Gama, in a cup semi-final.

I went as part of an organised tour - I was not sure what to expect, and initially could not find people who were keen to go along with. The atmosphere was electric - by far the most passionate supporters I have seen at any sporting event - and although the stadium was not full (despite the massive fan bases of the two clubs), it was a great atmosphere.

All the features of the big rivalries were there - the big flags, drums, the chanting and off course, great football. Brazilian football is just on such a different level - it is fast, and the 2-1 score line (in favour of Flamaengo) is a testament of good keeping more than bad shooting - shots on goal tended to be on target more often than not, and the sleek passing and ball control was wonderful to watch.

Scoring Goals

So, Kaiser Chiefs won the Vodacom Challenge against Manchester United over the weekend, on penalties. Admittedly, it was their second side made up of a number of young players but it was a good performance by the Chiefs. Other than Fernadez's keeping at the goals, one thing that stood out for me in the entire competition was the lack of goals by both of the South African sides - Kaiser Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. In fact, between them, they only scored one goal (Kaiser Chiefs against Orlando Pirates). This is not a new problem for South African sides - remember the African Cup of Nations earlier this year - South Africa did not score a goal in three matches back then either.

This is actually in stark contrast to Banyana Banyana (the ladies side), whose game I caught on TV while avoiding other things I could have been doing. In a qualifier match (I think for the African Cup of Nations) against Tanzania, they won 3-0, with two breath taking goals, especially the last one in the 93rd minute from a corner curling into the top of the near post, which the defender could only head into the goal. So goals in South African football - probably only from Banyana Banyana.

South African football Passion

South African football fans have a lot of passion. That has never been in doubt. But whether the players on the field have passion for what they are doing is a different matter all together. I watched most of the match Bafana Bafana - Guniea match in my hotel room (Eurosport has great coverage of the African Nations Cup) and the performance was demoralising. Most of the players just didn't seem interested - esp the big name players like McCarthy and Vilakazi. And to top it off, they played really bad football, constantly loosing possession and having very few shots on goal (I don't think a single shot actually came close to going in).

At this rate - it will be an embarrassment in 2010. What SA needs is not more big name players - but players who want to be on the field - players who are disciplined to devote time to their performance - like Zim, who even against all the odds against Senegal (albeit helped by some poor finishing from the Senagalese) kept the scoreline at 0-0 for over60 minutes and even though they lost, I think they had more chances of scoring in one half than SA did in the entire match!

Black Saturday of South African Sport

If you haven't heard; Bafana Bafana are out of World Cup 2006. So, even though we are hosting 2010; we won't be playing in 2006. Bafana Bafana have had a very poor run lately, they lost in the COSAFA cup semis, they lost 4-1 to Iceland and then they lost 3-1 to Burkina-Faso. Even worse is the chance that Bafana Bafana could still not qualify for the Africa cup of Nations (also in 2006). On the brighter side, the under 23s did thrash Uganda 4-1 - the 2^nd goal (from Lewis IIRC) was an amazing display of teamwork and good finishing ... maybe that's the team we should have sent to Burkina-Faso.

Also, we lost the Tri-Nations on Saturday when the All Blacks thrashed the Wallabies. For the first 20 minutes in the second half, South Africa had hope when the Aussies fought back from 20-0 to 20-19; but then a certain sub named Dunning gave away 9 points in less than 5 minutes; and after that it was all downhill. But even though we lost; this was probably the best Tri-Nations performance from the Springboks.

Oh, it was also Sarai's b'day party on Saturday ... the aftermath of alcohol consumption is best left untold.