Weekend Wrap Up

(Note: The World Cup 2010 is trademark of FIFA. By reading this, you hereby forever relinquish the right to benefit financially from anything football related. Moreover, FIFA inc. owns the player rights to your children, be they living or as yet unborn)

The tourney kicked off with a bang, as Tshabalala’s (Shah-bah-la-la, that’s just fun to say) wonder strike briefly put South Africa ahead, sending the stadium and country into vuvuzela honking delirium. Unfortunately, some slack defending gifted Mexico the equalizer, though Bafana should be happy to get a point off of a very talented team, and are still in good position to escape the group stages.

As of the time of this writing, I have managed to watch eight of nine matches, the lone misfit being the Argentina/Nigeria match while I was in transit to Rustenburg to watch the Yanks take on those Limey blokes from Engerlund. We were making great time until the car stopped dead in its tracks a few miles from a toll gate. This resulted in the formation of what my car companions referred to as a South African Highway, whereby impatient cars use the berm as a second lane. We just happened to be such an impatient vehicle.

After that unpleasantness, getting to the stadium from the park-and-ride was fairly straightforward. The vibe on the grounds was absolutely buzzing (literally), though the American contingent was largely across the stadium from where we sat, leaving us in a sea of loud tipsy English. As there was no limit on liquor sales, the blokes behind us had purchased a whole case of Budweiser. Wouldn’t want common sense and public safety to get in the way of commerce, eh FIFA? I was consoled by the thought that the English were forced to drink mass quantities of cheap American lager.

Fortunately, the days of English football thuggery seem to be at an end. Nowadays, the fans largest contribution is flags, as in hundreds of St George’s crosses draped around the stadium. Luckily, I only had to endure one round each of “God Save the Queen” and “Keep St George in My Heart”, though one poor lad attempted to start a “Daydream Believer” sing-a-long after England’s first score, with little support.

That early initial score had English hearts dreaming of a blowout, but those dreams were quickly crushed just before the half by a speculative shot from the boot of Clint Dempsey, and the subsequent comedy drop by English keeper Robert Green. Needless to say, the talk in the toilets at halftime was of “rubbish English keepers”. The stadium is non-smoking, but English fans quickly embraced the lax respect for law in this country, nervously chain-puffing away by the outside railing.

Both teams had good chances to steal the win in the second, but it remained a draw in the end. While I’m sure news of this game was registered somewhat in the US, it led the news in Britain, causing much anxious hand wringing and calls for poor Rob Green to be barbequed on a spit. I might have felt bad, were it not for the English media’s blatant dismissal of US chances before the match. I recall some quote about those who refuse to learn from history….oh well.

OH, SAY CAN YOU SEEEEE….