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<p style="text-align: left">Through some fortuitous timing on my part, and the benevolence of my wonderful wife, I was able to spend a large part of our recent honeymoon in South Africa…for the 2010 World Cup! &nbsp;Since arriving back Stateside, I’ve attempted to settle back into a life devoid of 24/7 football and the sweet hum of the vuvuzela.&nbsp; In reflecting on our trip, I wanted to share a few impressions and musings from our experience, the football portion, of course.</p>
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<p style="text-align: left">My wife and I arrived in Johannesburg from London the day of the US/England match.&nbsp; As soon as we set foot in the OR Tambo Airport, we were greeted with the sight of colorful FIFA World Cup signage and booths hawking the latest World Cup gear and novelties.&nbsp; The first question we were asked in customs was whether we were there for “the football.”&nbsp; During our ride from the airport to our temporary residence in JoBurg, our driver was eager to discuss the World Cup; even while admitting he was more of a rugby fan.&nbsp; He impressed upon us, as hosts of the World Cup, the casual South African soccer fan had been transformed into a full-fledged fanatic for the duration of the World Cup.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">Our first match was the Netherlands blanking Denmark 2-0 at the Soccer City stadium.&nbsp; The build up to the match was incredible.&nbsp; While the traffic was thick en route Soccer City, the cast of characters entering the stadium was entertaining to say the least.&nbsp; There were busloads of Danish supporters furiously waving their country’s flags. &nbsp;This only spurred the Dutch fans walking beside the buses to reply with a frenetic chorus of vuvuzelas and their own flag waving.&nbsp; Particularly amusing were the fans who had indulged in a few pints too many, and with no other option, were forced to handle their business on the side of the road.&nbsp; All of this before we made it within a mile of Soccer City. &nbsp;One of the cool sights along the way was seeing the level of entrepreneurial spirit exhibited by the vendors stationed along the path to stadium.&nbsp; While you would expect the standard vuvuzela, replica soccer ball, or t- shirt, you could also find numerous national team specific wares, specifically targeted to the fans of the day’s match.&nbsp; This day, it was all Denmark or Netherlands, from the flags being sold, to the pallets of face paint made available for willing patrons to have their nation’s flag painted on their person; all for a few South African Rand, of course.&nbsp; Right before entering the stadium you could even pick up a pair of earplugs, just in case you wanted to drown out one of those recently purchased vuvuzelas.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">While on the subject, a note about the vuvuzela.&nbsp; There has been much made about the annoying nature of the instrument, and although I can sympathize with the unsavory hum while viewing at home, the vuvuzela is actually much less intrusive when present in the and around the stadium.&nbsp; Much of the vuvuzela blowing is done in call and response fashion, and unless someone is blowing one right into your ear, you can pick up the musicality and interplay of the sounds much better in person.&nbsp; Unfortunately, when you have 85,000 people all doing their own personal call and response, the interplay is lost in a cacophony of sound, thus the steady humming buzz you hear during broadcasts. I found the vuvuzela to be a unique addition to my experience…that being said, the random vuvuzela blowing outside of my window at 3 am was a tad annoying.&nbsp; One final note on the vuvuzela, one of the funniest signs that I saw during my time in South Africa was a sign at the entrance of a shopping mall imploring people to please refrain from blowing vuvuzelas while on mall property.&nbsp; Never mind that just about every sporting goods store and novelty shop within the mall had vuvuzelas for sale.&nbsp; Again, the reach of World Cup fever is bigger than just the stadiums that host the games.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">Our second match, Brazil/Ivory Coast, had an even more festive atmosphere than the Denmark/Netherlands build up.&nbsp; The vuvuzelas were joined by drums and outlandish costumes.&nbsp; We saw an Ivory Coast fan decked out as an elephant, faux elephant tusks and all, only to be rivaled by a Brazilian fan with fake four foot arms protruding from his Brazilian jersey. &nbsp;There were joyful odes to Maicon and Luis Fabiano from the bus drop off point to the front gate of the stadium.&nbsp; The crowd cheered every challenge and every corner.&nbsp; One surreal portion of the match was Kaka’s sending-off for his second yellow card.&nbsp; Without TV commentary, I’d venture to say the crowd didn’t know exactly what had happened, other than the fact that it was a bad situation. &nbsp;The confusion on the pitch did little to quell the lively atmosphere in the stands. &nbsp;When Didier Drogba scored the lone Ivory Coast goal, you would have thought that Ivory Coast had just advanced to the next round of the tournament the way the fans celebrated in their eye catching bright orange parka jackets. &nbsp;While the final score line wasn’t indicative of a close game, the experience was still a memorable one, so much so that my wife claimed herself Brazilian for the evening (that’s not her on top of the celebratory pile though).</p>
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<p style="text-align: left">As much as I would have enjoyed having tickets to every match for the in-person experience, I realized that this wasn’t a reality; I was on my honeymoon after all.&nbsp; Luckily, for matches for which we didn’t have tickets, the atmosphere in the many fan parks (we attended one in Cape Town that was set up to have the feel of a giant pub under a tent) was electric.&nbsp; One of the more memorable moments was watching the South Africa/Uruguay match in one of the fan parks in Cape Town.&nbsp; While South Africa’s performance on the day was far from their best, hearing the fans sing the <em>National Anthem of South Africa</em> was incredible.&nbsp; For a nation with a bitter history of apartheid and racial segregation, the unified singing and the shared passion for the country’s national soccer team expressed a sense of pride that was inspiring.&nbsp; As often as I’ve listened to my own country’s national anthem, during the World Cup, I came to view the singing of each national anthem as more than a routine precursor to the sporting action about to unfold. &nbsp;Each anthem announced of a team, a country, its people.&nbsp; Truly magical.</p>
<p style="text-align: left">When our time in South African had come to a close, I was definitely sad to leave, in part because I was leaving behind a beautiful country with friendly people, but also because the reality set in that once I was back home, and at work, I wouldn’t be able to freely watch and talk about the games all day.&nbsp; Thank goodness for fond memories and ESPN3.</p>

Musings From My Trip to the Greatest Sporting Event on Earth - World Soccer Talk

Musings From My Trip to the Greatest Sporting Event on Earth

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<p>The final round of the group games saw several well fancied sides struggling for form and in danger of going out, but Group B’s final game saw Ghana edge it 1-0 to progress with Ivory Coast in to the quarter finals. It had certainly been a weird group with Mali pulling out but eventually, the two major sides got through, though Burkina Faso can be proud at their efforts.</p>
<p>They made themselves hard to beat and in knock out football, that can be all you need, as Greece proved in the 2004 European Championships. Ghana struggled, huffed and generally puffed throughout the group but just about got over the line. Group C saw Nigeria roll back the years to trounce Mozambique 3-0 but they made hard work of it through out the first half.</p>
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<p>2 goals either side of half time from Osaze Odemwingie put daylight between Nigeria and their opponents and a late goal from Obamfemi Martins wrapped up all 3 points. Nigeria were ominously beginning to shake off the lethargy that had afflicted them in the first two games and began to play as the team of old.&nbsp; It would be something unfair to dismiss Mozambique’s challenge as they did start the game brighter, but Nigeria have been there and done that. Experience counts for a lot in a major tournament.</p>
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<p>Egypt also continued their fine form with a 2-0 win over Benin. Even resting key players couldn’t derail the Pharaohs great from so far in Angola, they’ve probably impressed me the most of all the notable sides. They kept the ball so well in this game, that despite everything being on the line for the Squirrels, they simply didn’t get enough possession. El Mohamedy scored a peach of a goal and when Moteab made it 2-0 after just 23 minutes, they game was effectively over.</p>
<p>The final group games saw so much to play for but ultimately someone had to go out. Gabon went into the game against Zambia knowing they simply needed a draw, but they seemed to freeze when their big moment arrived. Zambia however played with an abandon of a side with nothing to lose. They weren’t expected to qualify but they brushed Gabon aside to win 2-1 thanks to goals by Kalada and Chamanga. Gabon simply couldn’t get their game working and even after a late goal couldn’t do enough.</p>
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<p>Cameroon also knew that they needed to avoid defeat against Tunisia to progress, but once again struggled to produce anything of real quality, especially after going 1-0 down in the opening minute. For half an hour they failed to create anything of note, but once again it was the talismanic striker, Samuel Eto’o who came to the rescue. He equalised at the beginning of the second half but Cameroon shot themselves in the foot and went behind again to an own goal. Staring elimination in the face they rallied and got a second equaliser through N’Guemo. The Indomitable Lions held on, but only just to progress.</p>
<p>So the Quarter Finals were upon us with four interesting games, the host nation Angola entertained Ghana but the fairytale came to an abrupt halt. Despite a feverish support, Angola couldn’t take their chances and recover the initiative after Gyan had given the Black Stars the lead after sixteen minutes. They wasted some great chances and thanks to some great goalkeeping by Ghanaian keeper Kingson, the host nation exited the competition.</p>
<p>Sundays other game saw a heavyweight clash between two World Cup qualifiers, Ivory Coast and Algeria. Both teams had started the tournament slowly but this game was anything but a slow clash. Chelsea’s Kalou got the Ivory Coast off to the best start with a 4th minute opener when he was left free in the box but Algeria would not be bowed and responded after 30 minutes through Matmour with a lovely right foot strike from the edge of the box. The second half was a tense affair but it exploded spectacularly in the final minutes.</p>
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<p>With one minute of the match remaining, Kadou Keita hit a thunderbolt from outside the box that flew in to the top left hand corner to put the Ivory Coast on the threshold of the semi-finals but Algeria had other ideas. Unbelievably left unmarked in the box, Rangers centre half, Madjid Bougherra steered a header past the despairing dive of the goalkeeper in the 92nd minute to take the game to extra time.</p>
<p>Amazingly, 3 minutes in to extra time, it was another British based player, Hamed Bouazza, who was left unattended in the box to head Algeria in front for the first time in the match. Of course, we hadn’t had a major incident in either of Sundays games but that all changed in the final minute. The Ivory Coast poured forward and Kolo Toure struck a sweet shot to equalise but it was amazingly ruled out for offside. He was clearly onside and the replays showed as much, but the decision stood and the tournament favourites crashed out in controversial style.</p>
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<p>Yesterday saw the remaining quarter finals and Cameroon’s luck finally ran out, though the day seemed to by destined as theirs. An early goal against the impressive Egyptians from a corner by Emana seemed to settle the Cameroonians down. No-one touched the ball apart from Egypt’s captain Ahmed Hassan as it whistled in to the net to start the goal scoring in bizarre circumstances.</p>
<p>Hassan, however, would drag his team back in to the game with a long range shot that went in from well outside the box ten minutes before half time to make it 1-1. Egypt seemed revitalised by this goal and took the game to Cameroon, who had Kameni to thank for keeping them in game but Cameroon continued to struggle but they hung on for extra time. The game turned almost as quickly as the extra period began, when Geremi under hit a back pass and Gado pounced to make it 2-1 but once again controversy reared its ugly head.</p>
<p>Just 3 minutes after going 2-1 down, Ahmed Hassan hit a free kick, Kameni saved it on to the bar and bounced away yet amazingly the linesman gave it and the goal stood. It wasn’t even close to being a goal but to be fair, Egypt had been the better side throughout the game and deserved the victory, but once again, the quality of the officiating dominated the post match discussions.</p>
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<p>Finally, Zambia and Nigeria tried their best to send everyone to sleep in a dour 120 minutes but some people managed to make it to the penalty shoot out. Thankfully this gave us a notable incident, with both goalkeepers scoring, and Nigeria’s Vincent Eneyema not only saved a spot kick, he scored the winner to send Nigeria through to the semi-finals.</p>
<p>Sadly, the two shocking decisions soured some great football and it’s hard to think of two worse decisions at international level in this day and age, but hopefully neither set of officials will be here for the rest of the tournament. Thursday will see both games taking place, with the sumptuous West African derby between Nigeria and Ghana acting as a starter to a real grudge match, Algeria v Egypt. Hopefully all the battling will stay on the pitch this time. Roll on Thursday!!!</p>

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Musings From My Trip to the Greatest Sporting Event on Earth

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African Cup Of Nations Round Up Days 10-18