Posts Tagged ‘worldcup’

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!!!!

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..

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.

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.

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.

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/