The Long and Blocked-up … ah, Winding Road to the World Cup

In German we say “Fußball ist unser Leben, der König Fußball regiert die Welt” (“Football is our live, king football rules the world”) and this has certainly been true in South Africa for the past two weeks. As a test run for the World Cup, South Africa hosted the FIFA Confederations Cup, where the winners of all continental tournaments play a mini tournament against each other.

Ewa and I had managed to get tickets for a few games and so football has truly been the centre of our lives for the past weeks. Our tournament started when South Africa played New Zealand in Rustenburg, for which a friend managed to get us some tickets.
South Africa has introduced a wonderful Park & Ride system especially for the Confederations Cup. Even though most of the stadiums are used every weekend for regular football or rugby matches without P&R facilities, FIFA decided that a mandatory P&R system had to be in place for the ConFed Cup. So we left our car on a dark field in the middle of nowhere and got on a bus, which must have been one of the first buses ever … Now, football in South Africa is traditionally a black sport – all the white people play either rugby or cricket and the blacks play football. So Ewa and I were not only the only white people on the bus (apart from our friend), but also as the only girls! Try imagining yourself on a bus full of rowdy black football fans and you will only come close to understanding how happy I was to be in male company! It certainly was an experience, but one I do not care to repeat in the near future! The situation didn’t change much once we got to the stadium (which was still a good 15minute walk from the drop off point for the P&R … what is the point of having such a system if it doesn’t actually get you where you want to go, I wonder…?!) and we stood out in a stadium full of crazy South Africans. Everyone had dressed up in the national colours and the sound of Vuvuzelas – long trumpet-like things that make a sound, which resembles a dying sea cow and which I have come to hate more than anything in this world - was in the air! South Africa won unconvincingly and mainly because New Zealand played even worse than we did!

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Our next game, Brazil versus USA game in Pretoria, might just as well have been a different sport on a different planet. The atmosphere was completely different - much more relaxed and peaceful; the crowds were more mixed with lots of white people, Asians and Indians as well as blacks!

Most South Africans had decided to support Brazil – I’m guessing its because of the colour resemblance – and so it was a very happy occasion as Brazil thrashed the States 3:0. Sadly they only played well for one half and then sat back … so the game was not very attractive during the second half and we had to keep ourselves entertained with Mexican Waves!

Stadium food is well known to be the worst in the world, but when you sit there in the cold and someone is having a burger with certainly not more than 20 per cent meat in it, I guarantee that you would kill to have one too. So when Ewa and I left the stadium, having resisted the temptation, all we could think about was food. Fortunately there was a VIP hospitality event near our parking and close to starvation we decided to invade it and mix with the posh guests. When the waiters asked if we were part of the event, we just smiled, nodded and gladly accepted, coffee, cake, soup, samosas, chicken wings …

As the country got more and more football crazy, so did football! South Africa improved significantly during the tournament and millions of hearts broke when “Bafana Bafana” lost to Brazil in the 88th minute of their semi final…

Whites and blacks were equally devastated and for days no one talked about anything eles! I am still struggling to understand just how the US managed to follow Brazil into the next round instead of Italy or Egypt! When they magically managed to kick-out Spain in the semis, they ruined my dream of a Brazil versus Spain final and out of all the possible and impossible combinations for the final it had to be one that I had already seen Brazil versus the States! Great :(

Sunday was finally the big day and Bafana faced Spain in the 3rd Place Play-off. We were jumping around like maniacs when the Boys managed to equalise and forced Spain into extra-time! Unfortunately we had to set-off to make sure we’d get to the stadium – once again P&R, oh joy! – on time for the final and had to listen to the worst radio commentary of a football game in the history of human kind. The reporter pronounced the names so badly that it took us 15minutes to figure out that one player was not actually South African but Spanish! Needless to say that we didn’t realise that Spain scored again and once again Bafana was defeated! But they will be remembered for their great fights against Brazil and Spain and we are a lot more optimistic that Bafana Bafana won’t make a complete fool of themselves during the World Cup next year!

I knew from our previous experience in Rustenburg just how cold it would get at night. I was so nice to tell the others, but they just laughed at me and went with only a jumper while I was wearing something along the lines of six layers, two jackets, hats, scarves, gloves – you name it, I wore it! I pretty much doubled in size and looked like Eskimos! But it turned out that people really should have listened to us – it got freezing cold the moment the sun set and temperatures dropped down to 0°C! So while they had their pride, thin jumpers and now a cold, I managed to enjoy the game and stay reasonably warm!

And what a game it was! I could once again not believe that the US were the same team we had seen just over a week ago in Pretoria. They played incredibly well and efficient and managed to lead 2:0 by half time! The stadium – the vast majority was supporting Brazil – could not believe their eyes! The few American supporters kept on shouting “Yes, we can” which seems to have turned into a universal concept and got really annoying very quickly! So a sigh of relief went through the crowds when Brazil came back after half time and scored immediately! No one wants to see the US win in football as well and so we were screaming and shouting for Kaka & Co to do it again! And they did it! As the US was trying to defend their lead, Brazil struck again and equalised! Ole ole ole ole ole … what a relief! 60 000 green and yellow Brazilian or South African – minor details, who's gonna be fussy – flags and the sounds of what felt like a million Vuvuzelas turned the stadium into a boiling pot!

Encouraged by so much support, Brazil went to score again and just when we were getting worried the US might come back and we would have to freeze through thirty minutes of extra time – yes it was that cold! – the game was over and so was the American dream that “Yes, we can” applies to all areas of live!

South Africa’s dress rehearsal for the World Cup next year is over and the country really has done a magnificent job! Despite minor problems, such as getting to the stadium and having to treat thousands of people for acute hearing loss due to the bl**** Vuvuzelas, the ConFed Cup was an overwhelming success, an amazing experience and inspired young and old and black and white! So, bring on the World Cup – we are ready! (But please plan extra time to get to your seats :) )