Three Men and a World Cup 2010 » vorldcup

Germany vs Spain Intro

Carl — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:47:30 +0000

Yesterday we got to watch Germany vs Spain. Didn’t get access to a computer until I got back to Johannesburg so sorry for the delay. The best team won, Spain totally took Germany out of the game, no idea what the posession percentage was, but Germany couldn’t have had it much. Chris Jr continues to get lots of attention, and is very popular with the ladies, much like Chris Sr. There were some fans which missed the game because of issues with their flights, to them I say, what the hell were you thinking? Who leaves their travel to a flight that is supposed to get in a couple of hours early? So now we will have a historic World Cup final, with neither the Netherlands or Spain having won the competition. I have more friends that are Dutch, so I think I’ll be rooting for them.

We did see a person invade the pitch early on in the game, and unfortunately, the security didn’t beat the crap out of him as I had been told would happen. Oh well, I did video what happened.

Intro Video

Chris getting attention

Dumb ass Italian

See you at the final!!!!

Shredded Vuvuzela anyone?

IdoNotes — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:27:58 +0000

As we sat game after game listening to the drone of vuvuzelas, it became apparent they might be part of sports culture globally soon enough. Oddly, there are two choices. Ear plugs (which I wore almost every game) and the new choice #2..

The remote intro for Spain v Germany in Durban

IdoNotes — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:28:05 +0000

While I was not there in physical presence, I certainly am there still in spirit and I am happy Andy and Carl are joining me watching the game in Durban.

Sorry for the noise they make, they get excited easily.

Japan v Paraguay videos, pictures and thoughts #worldcup

IdoNotes — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:26:21 +0000

What an amazing game to see. The first game that went to penalty kick at World Cup 2010. The Japan fans were there in full energy and attire and Paraguay fans were not as obvious. Sorry.

We enjoyed sitting in the section right next to a large amount of Japan fans. Carl has an amazing set of fan photos from this event in the VVorldCup photo pool on Flickr. Their enthusiasm for everyone on the team was excellent to see. Their team is a hero, not just one or two international players. I wish more fans saw their teams like this. Many just want to see individuals make individual plays. First up is our intro into a new stadium for us to see.

Intro

Both teams were so well balanced. While the style of play was obviously different, they canceled each other out and breakaways were exciting when they happened. As we hot 80 minutes in, all three of us looked at each other and said penalty shots. It almost was dashed as Japan was so close to a goal in the last few minutes of overtime.

Outro

Skipping the thought that we went into penalty shots, this was one of the more exciting games to watch for me on a personal level. Carl and Andy have a couple more to go. Maybe one will prove more exciting.

Go visit the Flickr pool for all of our combined photos.

Japanese fans

Andy — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:08:38 +0000

We met a few Japanese fans when we watched the great game between Paraguay and Japan this evening. These two were special:

The one on the left is a guy….. so when he left and went for a beer, I snuck down and asked if I could get a picture with the funny costume…

NOTE: yes that is really Andy in there, not photoshop. He walked down a few rows and asked to put it on for the shot. They were more than happy to oblige.

Live in Pretoria for Japan v Paraguay

IdoNotes — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:19:43 +0000

Our first trip to the stadium Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria for World Cup 2010. A beautiful, yet oldest, stadium we have been to. The crowds are still filling in even as the game started. The fans here are quieter. Might be the teams or might be the location. But it is still fun to watch the outfits and cheering commence.

Pictures are coming on Flickr and videos later

Do they ever stop playing vuvuzelas? This video answers it

IdoNotes — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:16:47 +0000

You can hear vuvuzelas long before games begin each night. You hear them in cars, people walking and selling in the streets. What happens after the game completes? Does the sound die for a few hours? See this video from Park Station in Johannesburg long after Argentina won against Mexico.

Argentina takes down Mexico and we talk to fans

IdoNotes — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:03:53 +0000

Another trip to Soccer City in Johannesburg. We were off to see Argentina and Mexico in the final 16 at World Cup 2010. We took our normal route of driving to Park Station to catch the direct, free train to the stadium that is offered for games. This is our third trip using the train and we think we have a system worked out in parking, getting on before and after the game and then getting away from the traffic. One of the benefits of riding the trains is interacting with fans of the teams about to play, and fans that just love the sport and want a good game. Carl was able to grab an interview with another group today on the train ride in.

As you can see, it isn’t hard to find awesome people everywhere we go. We get insight into things to do, how the city was before the games and what they hope it will be in the future. Once off the train today we sensed the size of the crowd would be different as we enter the final 16. TV stations, cameras and crews were all over the grounds between security and ticketing. Once again we stole some lighting to make our own intro shot.

Both Argentina and Mexico fans were fully dressed out and ready to show support. Carl has a ton of pictures in the VVorldCup picture pool on Flickr.

The game was well played by both sides, much better than Portugal and Brazil the other day in Durban. We had our first encounter with some fans that had a bit much to drink. They didn’t have issues with us, but with each other in close proximity of our seats. It goes without saying that the fun of that moment escapes until the issue is resolved. Once that passed, everything jumped back to normal being loud and fun. We stuck around long enough to watch the stadium empty and take more pictures with fans and of the pitch. Look at the Flickr album to catch them all.

Faces of the 2010 World Cup

Carl — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:40:27 +0000

For the last few games I’ve been taking my Canon DSLR camera to the games with it’s zoom lens and have been trying to capture the faces of various fans and also in some cases non fans. I think some of the pictures have come out great, and many I think illustrate the different emotions the fans can go through during a game. You can see all my photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/groups/vvorldcup/

Brazil verus Portugal videos from Durban

IdoNotes — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 07:30:25 +0000

After some pictures and our written review of the World Cup 2010 game between Brazil and Portugal in Durban, we wanted to make sure the videos were posted as normal. We had a delay as we immediately drove to Rustenburg for USA v Ghana and couldn’t find the required Internet bandwidth until now.

Intro Part 1 with Chris

Intro Part 2 with Carl (See Flyboytyler Flickr feed for references made, mainly this photo)

Outro with Andy