Posts Tagged ‘World Cup’

Last night we attended the World Cup Final at Soccer City in Johannesburg. It felt special to be there, and the atmosphere is something I will never forget. To see Nelson Mandela was something special, and everyone in the stadium gave him the standing ovation he deserves, football players are often referred to as heroes by the media (falsely), but Nelson Mandela is a real hero, and a great inspiration for millions of people.

The game did not flow very well, and compared to football played in the 3/4th playoff game from the previous night was disappointing, but lets face it, if I was only interested in the football I could have stayed at home and watched it on the tele with instant replays, attending the games has been as much about the atmosphere as the game itself. The Dutch played dirty and unfortunately their tournament will probably be remembered that way.

As with our other games, we met people in the stands, took lots of photos and did our regular video introductions…

Alex from the train to Soccer City

Andy introduces the World Cup final (be sure to listen to my score prediction)

Stacie, our gracious hostess, provides the closing comments

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.

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.

The first shoot out in penalty kicks of World Cup 2010. We got lucky to be part of it as Japan played a better game clearly in our eyes. They had a definite edge over Paraguay the whole game but couldn’t get a goal to go.

Both teams were well celebrated for all their hard work at the end from the entire crowd. All our videos and pictures online shortly at our vVorldcup pool in Flickr.

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

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.