Having been down to Cape Town Stadium last night for the France v Uruguay game [PHOTOS], here are a few thoughts on the World Cup now that it’s actually here. Please excuse me as I am watching England v USA and my mum, who is utterly trollied, is giggling next to me. It’s very distracting.
Firstly, get to the stadiums EARLY. Yes, there was a bit of congestion outside the ground on Friday evening, but I cannot understand (or sympathise with) those who turn up with 10 minutes before kick off and expect to get in smoothly. And I don’t appreciate the arseholes in the queue next to me that moaned and complained about how “it wasn’t like this at the rugby“.
Well, no it wasn’t. But then there were half as many people there and there were no security checks whatsoever. Because no-one wanted to blow up the Boland v Stormers friendly.
And it actually was like that at the rugby today, where we were stuck in huge queues to get in and out.
But no whining.
Secondly, vuvuzelas are the future of crowd noise. What an atmosphere at the Waterfront for the Bafana game.
And when they scored – wow.
Thirdly, if you’re going along to Italy v Paraguay on Monday night – wrap up warm. The ‘realfeel’ temperature via accuweather.com is -2°C. Yes. Minus two. In Cape Town.
That’ll be fun. And if you think that’s bad for the fans, think of the poor players.
And – in defence of Robert Green and his pathetic goalkeeping (and it was pathetic), how much worse than Teko Modise’s misses yesterday was Green’s schoolboy mistake?
The temperature will be worse for the fans than the players, in my experience.
But then, it’s always cold at The Emirates (before you say it)!
Oh, and I have to say that yesterday was emotional – seriously.
I get that you’re trying to put a positive spin on things – and that you genuinely seem to like them, but vuvuzelas are only “the future of crowd noise” like cancer is the future of smoking. Verging on inevitable, perhaps, but that doesn’t make them desirable. Can anyone point me to a defense of them that isn’t reliant on this sort of cliche (or mindless cultural relativism)?
And Modise’s misses have to be considered far worse – it’s one thing to redirect an oncoming object to a new trajectory, and into a net, and quite another simply to stop that object’s progress, when it’s coming at you in a predictable path (and you can use your entire body to stop it, not just the parts outfielders are allowed to).
GaiB > Are you suggesting that I should play? (My mother’s best friend’s next door neighbour’s daughter once visit Chile, so I’d probably get honorary Paraguayan citizenship).
Jacques > Oh, I love them. So yes – I see it as a positive thing. The difference between the atmosphere at the CTS (Vuvu’s allowed) and Newlands (No Vuvu’s) was incredible. It sustains the crowd noise – even through the quiet bits of the game.
Green’s f-up was inexcusable, but I’m still aghast at Modise’s efforts. And that of the Algerian keeper today.
If I did my job that badly, I’d be sacked.
This is the World Cup of mistakes. (apparently)
Turns out it wasn’t Green’s fault at all – he thought his hands were wider than they actually are: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/international/article7150131.ece. Now, why this particular heuristic only kicked in at this World Cup I don’t know, but then neuroplasticity is largely unknown territory…
Jacques > I’m told that men have had these issues forever, but I have never heard it in connection with hands.