I have to be honest…things are all starting to blur together on the World Cup tip. Whirled Cup, indeed. The one thing I do know for sure is that my name is Lynsee, the USA has gone home, and Africa’s only got one hope left in Ghana. The rest…well it’s kind of hazy.
Friday I was still a little tired from the previous days of USA fanfare, substituting sleep for hanging out, and tour guiding a bit around town. My only hope for going to see an actual game was Friday at Loftus: Chile vs. Spain. My friend said he had some complimentary tickets from some work he was doing. But a few days before he was in a car crash at home and he still hasn’t come back to Pretoria. He is okay and no longer in the hospital…so that is good. But we didn’t go to the game L
My friend’s boyfriend, Sven, called me in the middle of a nap on Friday and told me that he and his friend were in Pretoria. Sven lives in Cape Town and he and his friend from Germany have been touring all over South Africa on a World Cup holiday. It sounds like they are having a lot of fun, have been to a lot of games, and seen lots of wonderful SA sights. I met Sven and his friend in Hatfield Square, again taking a path down past the stadium so I could get a glimpse of the fans en route to the game. Saw lots of bull fighters from Spain, red wigs, and flags flags flags. There wasn’t really anything special about the fan costumes for these teams, so far as I could see. I did see some guys with a big drum and like 20 HUGE Chilean flags. I wanted to take a picture but somehow had a shy moment. I did take some pics of the fans though…so you can check them out below. I even brushed off my Spanish to ask permission to photograph. It was really hard cos I’ve been thinking in French for the last week or so and when I have too many languages in my head they all come out at the wrong time. It’s really something I need to work on.
(Spanish supporters and me)
(Viva Chile!)
The Square was fun. It was cool to see Sven. But I think I’m getting over the Square a bit now. Seriously if I hear “I like to move it, move it” one more time I’m going to stab someone. There are only 2 CDs that the DJ/sound guys are playing because that’s what FIFA says they can do. I have voiced my concerns to them, but they say they can’t do anything about it. Lame. FIFA is the new world order it seems. The sound guys are doing a great job otherwise…and I told them so. I’ve done sound. It’s not easy. But they have been delivering the goods on all the bands that have been playing. If only they could get rid of the damn FIFA soundtrack…
On Friday I watched part of Portugal vs. Brasil (at home) and then the Chile vs. Spain game. My heart really wasn’t in either game. Portugal’s team annoys me and Brasil just always wins. Chile vs. Spain…whatever. I rooted for Chile since they seem to have been doing really well in their matches and compared to Spain they are the underdogs. I guess Spain just won some major tournament in Europe, but they haven’t really opened any cans of whoop ass during World Cup. Portugal and Brasil drew 0-0 and Chile lost to Spain 2-1. Sorry I can’t remember any specific details from the games…
Had some nice conversations in the Square with some South Africans. It was kind of quiet this night, but there were lots of Spain supporters…they are a favorite. Talked about marketing and advertising with a guy who studied in Chicago at Roosevelt University when the Fridge was still terrorizing the gridiron. We had some laughs about the Superbowl Shuffle and the fact that I was like 7 years old when that was hot. I was also scolded by a young man because “you ladies watch soccer for all the wrong reasons.” Meaning that we just watch for the hotties. And for me…the thighs. Whoa mama…the only thing hotter than soccer thighs are rugby thighs. Someone cool me down! But I won’t take that from this young man. There is a game called netball here in SA that is sort of like a lamer version of basketball for women. The highlight for most spectators of the male persuasion is that the ladies wear very short skirts. So I came back with this evidence and that guy had nothing except to say that if he wanted to see hot ladies then he watches tennis. Fine…even steven now.
I showed off my vuvuzela skills some more. I actually had a debate on the merits of the various models of vuvuzela…which was funny cos I just wrote on my blog about it. Sven, Andreas, and I were sitting by some other folks and when Sven and Andreas left I joined their table. Had some nice conversation with a young man that was clearly interested in a bit more from me. At this point in the week…it’s been a wild 7 days and I’ll be honest when I say I still have Algeria on the brain a bit. I don’t switch gears in that department that fast so I had to shut down this young man I was talking to and ask him to cool his jets. But it was cool. He was respectful and we ended up hanging out the rest of the night.
Saturday my friend, Tshepo, was coming over to spend some time hanging out. We haven’t seen each other since 2008, when we were going to Onderstepoort together. He’s graduated now and is working in a clinic in Pretoria. While at Onderstepoort, I turned him onto Johnny Cash and my mom sent a poster of Johnny Cash from the USA for him. So I had to see him and hand over the goods. It was nice to hang out with Tshepo. We chilled at my house for a bit and then went to go get supplies for a braai we were going to later in the day.
Saturday was the first day of the final 16 games. The final 16 are the top 2 teams from the 8 groups (each group had 4 teams) that started out in the beginning. So this is the start of the real games. Go time! Now, if you don’t win a game then you are eliminated from the Cup. Games that draw go into extra time and then into penalty shots if need be. That last part sounds damn exciting. There is no draw now…someone must win and proceed. The first game of the day was South Korea vs. Uruguay, with Uruguay winning 2-1. South Korea wasn’t doing too bad I guess…all I know about that game is that it was pouring down rain (probably was played in Cape Town) and I got to see a Korean player’s butt as he slid all over the slick field. Nice.
The next game was of course…USA vs. Ghana. Now my allegiances are split…almost. I want to support Africa’s last team in the World Cup (cos I always do) but I can’t watch a game with the USA and not support them. So victory will be bittersweet no matter who wins. My friend Zadok and his sisters were hosting a braai at their house, plus my brother from another mother (Bento) was going to be around. Good times will be had! Tshepo and I got some meat and beer and got over to Zadok’s house. Tshepo had to go home early…it was sad cos the braai was really fun but those of us without cars sometimes have to make plans we don’t want to make. Nice to see you Tshepo!
It was becoming very clear that I was going to be the only USA supporter at this game. The crowd at Zadok’s was a mélange of pretty much any country you can name in Africa and me, the lone American. It doesn’t bother me cos I can hold it down for the USA if I need to! People started trickling in, beer was flowing, meat was grilling. I wanted to go watch the game in the Square but it was obvious we were not going to cook in time to see the kickoff. Also we had our own little party in the apartment and didn’t need the ambience of the Square. The game started, I sang my anthem…poorly. My voice is so thrashed these days. I just have no time to rest it in between more and more insanity. It’s cool though. I will stop sounding like a gorilla one of these days J
The game didn’t start off very well. We conceded a goal in the first 5 minutes and we just never really got it together. There was one goal that we should have got, but didn’t (I think…I don’t know, maybe I’m thinking of the England vs. Germany game). We did get a really tight penalty kick from Landon Donovan. It was beautiful…all the way over to one side and bounced off the pole into the goal. Nice one. But otherwise it was clear that the USA was not going to win. And we didn’t. I guess now I’m happy because I don’t have to be torn from supporting an African team…I can root for Ghana with a clear conscience now. But I am sad to see the USA go home. I have really enjoyed watching the games and supporting my country’s team. Good times, good times. Thanks guys!
Another important moment from tonight is that I was shown how to blow a vuvuzela so that you get another tone out of it. Like a high pitched one. To make this noise you press your lips together into a very thin line and blow. It’s much harder than the normal way you blow, but it is possible to get 2 tones from a vuvuzela. Coolness. Or rather…Ayobaness!
The braai was really fun. I got to see some of my brothers that I haven’t seen in awhile. Just like most other university situations…when your friends graduate they scatter to the wind. So I haven’t seen my bros in awhile and it’s not cool. Also Zadok, a Ugandan by way of the UK and Namibia and probably some other places, always had a good mix of people around. We can escape this racially/nationally/tribally demarcated group situation that is ever present in South Africa. Zadok’s party was a lot more like being at home…peeps of all flavors just chilling and having fun. Thanks, Z!
I got home around midnight and Sunnyside was jumping. Now that Ghana is the only team left to represent the 50 odd countries of Africa, you must understand that all support from the continent is going to be funneled into Ghana. It’s just the way it works. So all the Bafana Bafana, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Algeria fans are going to be rooting for Ghana. Sunnyside was on fire, but not literally. When I sat outside before bed I could hear drums and singing. I am guessing this went on all through the night. Helen said that just after the game there was A LOT of noise in Sunnyside for Ghana’s win.
Sunday brought Germany vs. England and Argentina vs. Mexico. I don’t really have an allegiance for any of the teams except I felt like I had to root for Mexico since most of my town is Mexican people. The Germany vs. England game was really talked about because there is some rivalry that exists between the two teams and people were worried there was going to be violence and all that jazz. Honestly I think the UK media machine is crazy and probably added a lot of hype to the whole situation, but what do I know. The game was interesting. England was totally robbed of a goal because the refs weren’t doing their job. The ball hit the top bar of the goal and bounced almost a meter inside of the box and then sort of out, where the goalie got it. It was pretty obvious it was a goal, but the line refs didn’t see it and the main ref didn’t see it…so there was no goal. It was really really fucked up. It pretty much ruined the momentum of the game for England and Germany thrashed them 4-1. Sorry limeys…
The Argentina vs. Mexico game was also tainted by blind refs. Argentina scored a goal in which the scoring player was WAY offsides…so the goal shouldn’t have counted. But again, because of really crap ref-ing…the goal stood. It’s decisions like this that can really ruin the momentum for one team or the other and it’s not fair. Also the Mexicans were ready to fight after that bad call. At half time there was some scuffling going on as the players left the field, but I don’t think it ever actually came to blows. Argentina ended up destroying Mexico and going on to the next round.
I just want to say a word about the coach of Argentina’s team, Diego Maradona. He is a really interesting figure in this World Cup. Controversial and the name on people’s tongue. I guess he used to play in Argentina and won a World Cup with them in Mexico in the 80s (I think). There is all sorts of talk about how if his team wins this Cup then it will prove that Maradona was the greatest footballer of all time and blah blah blah. I’m pretty sure that title will always stay with Pele, but commentators need to say crap all the time so… Personally I think that Maradona is such an old man hottie. I don’t know why cos he looks like a bad car salesman in his sleek silver sharkskin suit, long dark hair, and intense facial hair. I would not buy a car from that man…but he is kind of cute in an old rogue sort of way ;) I actually want to read up on Wikipedia about him cos it seems like he has had kind of a fascinating bad boy life.
I guess today is Brasil and some other teams…like I said…such a blur now. And it’s funny cos now the games playing are the good ones! Wake up Lynsee!
1 comment:
Wake up sister...your loyal readers back home in the motherland need your eloquent and humorous news from Mother Africa.
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