Spotted at the Netherlands v Cameroon match the other night:
Even the fans whose teams aren’t here are having a good time.
And I can see why. I gave the Cape Town Fan Mile a go for this game and I have to say that it was superbly organised and there was a great vibe along the whole route. Great shows, bands, bars and more.
You can see my photos of the evening on flickr.
We went, we watched, we booed.
And for Wayne Rooney to have a dig at the fans who have traveled 6000 miles... and spent thousands of pounds to watch that dross just proves how out of touch he is and what a primadonna he has become.
Tosser.
Still – as the photoset above shows, it was a good day out: firstly at the Waterfront, enjoying the view and the atmosphere and the beers and then off up to the amazing Cape Town Stadium, which was filled with passionate fans from both nations.
If only the standard of the football had lived up to the fans’ expectations.
Next up – North Korea and Portugal on Monday.
The official countdowns all say four, but ask anyone how many days between Sunday and Friday and you’ll be told five. So the official countdowns aren’t fooling anyone.
Mid-range forecasts suggest that Cape Town is going to have a pretty horrendous start to the week weather-wise, but that Thursday – and more importantly – Friday, are both going to be mild and DRY.
While Cape Town is allegedly a way behind Jo’burg in World Cup spirit, something I can believe after visiting the rather sterile Waterfront this morning, there are spots of extreme gees (spirit) here and there. Like the guy above with his work-in-progress garage door in Newlands. (You can see this new landmark from the M3 opposite Newlands Forest [MAP].)
This apparent lack of excitement doesn’t worry me. Capetonians always start getting into these things a little late, but then once they do, they do it so much better than residents of other South African cities we could mention.
Another new angle on the new stadium from Ocean View Drive.
Look, although there’s a great view of the ocean from there, I can’t remember anyone actually stopping just to have a look from this rather ordinary bend on the road.
Cape Town really does have a new landmark.
And they’re all about football, so if that sort of thing doesn’t intere… hello? Hello?
Hmm. Well, bugger you. I’m going to write it anyway.
Firstly, well done to Chelsea, who emphatically finished off the Premiership season with a little 8-0 drubbing of hapless Wigan “Athletic”.
Secondly, it’s 25 years since the Bradford Fire – the “forgotten tragedy of the Eighties“. 56 people died at that football match.
I can remember watching it on the news the next morning. I’d have been 11 years old and it would have been a Sunday. I had a habit of going downstairs at about 6am and watching the breakfast kids’ TV (such as it was back then), but the morning TV was dominated with the news of the fire. The pictures were horrific – I can still clearly see the man staggering out of the stand – on fire, but seemingly not even realising it.
It meant more because it was local to us and because there were so many stories of children being killed and injured just because they went to what should have been a celebratory match at the end of their championship winning season.
That top link is worth reading.
Finally, more happy news. We spent the afternoon at the Waterfront, gazing momentarily at the World Cup trophy. That’s my picture of it on the right. It was part of the Coca-Cola sponsored Trophy Tour and, despite the rain, was very well attended.
There was live music, an emotional 3D film of World Cups past (and future) and of course, the actual trophy. It was boxed in perspex, but you could get within a metre of it and no-one tried to steal it (as far as I’m aware).
Which isn’t very South African, now is it?