Viva!

Wow! For those of us who are patriotic - WHAT an exciting weekend!! It's just been amazing to be a part of this huge international event that is the soccer world cup. Even for those of us who really prefer rugby. The world is watching and we're here, part of it all.

We were very fortunate to get tickets to the very first match in Cape Town at our brand new, super-stunning stadium. The match was France vs Uruguay and while we didn't hold any particular preference as to which team won (we cheered for Uruguay anyway), it was just so thrilling to be there.

The match fell on the same day (Friday) as the opening ceremony and match between South Africa and Mexico, which took place in Johannesburg. Soon after I got home from work, we piled into the car and headed off to the V&A Waterfront in the hopes of finding parking and missing some of the traffic. We were lucky to find parking in a very busy Waterfront and spent the afternoon milling amongst the masses and masses of people.

Anyway, as always with this blog, pictures speak more than words...

Arriving at the Waterfront, Jake blows his vuvuzela for passing cars. He was super-excited and very proud to be wearing his Bafana Bafana top and SA scarf. It's moments like this that I hope he'll remember forever...

There were thousands of people from all over the world at the Waterfront. This is one of the Uruguay supporters... Behind the big blue board on the right, is a massive TV screen, up for fans to watch matches. Obviously many had come through early to claim their spot in front of the screen... This is a replica of the official match ball... Mom, dad and Jake getting into the spirit of things... I thought this was very clever - a mock coffin with flowers in SA colours, bigger than those of the Mexican. In other words, bury them!! Although it's winter here, the weather was perfect on Friday. It got pretty cold in the stadium, but we were warm walking around...Green and gold...Strong supporter...The flag he drew on me was better than the one I did on him. Not a bad photo either, thanks my boy...The crowds squeezed into any corner they could find to watch the SA match...Some excited Brazilians and a very drunk local...The crowds at the amphitheater watching the game. We couldn't get close to the screen, but it was enough to watch every one else's expressions change. To me the best part about this world cup has been how it's pulled everyone together. It doesn't matter your age or race - we're all one in this together, rooting for our boys to do their best and make us proud. We live in such an amazing country with so many wonderful people, it's great to see everyone sharing a common interest and excitement...And then SA scored! The first goal of the tournament (they drew 1-1 for those who haven't kept track). I cannot even begin to explain the volume of the cheering. The crowds literally roared with excitement. The vuvuzelas were blown and the atmosphere was electric. I cannot imagine not having been able to share that moment anywhere else. It was beautiful and just so exciting... I have no words for this - it was utterly spectacular and I haven't even seen the goal... Jake pretending to header the big ball. He's very excited about his own soccer again now... After the excitement of sharing our team's goal, we headed off to the stadium. By that stage, Jake had also bribed me into buying him a Bafana Bafana flag...Arriving at the grounds...My very excited little man. Oh, he also lost his first vuvuzela, so I had to buy him another one. Sucker that I am...We had cheap seats and I'm guessing that the higher up one goes in the stands, the better the view you have of the field and game. We were literally 4 rows from the front and the first 2 rows were empty. Plus we were almost behind the goals. But, in my very unprofessional soccer opinion, it was awesome to be so close to the action. Jake loved every moment and hardly moved out his seat... Soccer hotties warming up...Singing national anthems. France in white, Uruguay in blue...The game about to begin...Action! I was a little naughty and smuggled my camera and zoom lens in. I was told at the gate that I wasn't allowed to take it in, but then told to separate the lens and camera and then it was OK to take it with me. Unfortunately and probably because I cheated the system and fate was returning me the favour, I managed to throw my camera off the table during the bag inspection by mistake. I was trying to help a guy who had a sleeping toddler in his arms and battling to open his bag and swung my bag over my shoulder, in the process, knocking my camera on to the concrete floor. The casing's cracked, as is the viewfinder box (not the glass). It still worked OK for the game, which was all I was worried about then. Now I'm looking at new cameras, thank goodness for insurance... I must confess that I'm really not a sport's photographer. Perhaps it'd help if I had a really super lens and was allowed closer to the field, but I think managed to snap a few decent pictures anyway... And please excuse the professional photographers heads in the foreground. I know I should crop them out, but I ran out of time... Pick or choose - photographers heads, or missing feet...

It was great to be able to see the tension between the players. I can't imagine how stressful it must be to play on this level...

The French coach is a loud mouth and a bad loser (can I say that here?). Not sure what was going on here, but he was having some serious words with the ref...And a little later one of the Uruguay (Uruguaian?) players pulled a dirty and got himself a red card...A free kick (or is it a penalty?)... The game came to an end with a disappointing nil all result. Actually, it was probably one of the more boring games of the tournament so far, but we were there! The players shook hands and exchanged shirts (oh my!) and that was that. Brilliant!!!

We headed back to the car for hot chocolate/coffee and cake while we waited for the traffic to die down a little. We had a ball with us, so also played a little soccer match, which was great fun and got us all warmed up a little after the cold at the stadium.

And so, after that game, we're now very much into the whole World Cup thing. We're keeping track of the scores from each match and my house looks like a mini fan park. We're watching as much soccer as we possibly can and I'm cooking food to correspond with teams playing each day. It's been so much fun and I'm loving sharing it with Jake.

Lastly, just to wish out Bafana Bafana team all the very best for their game against Uruguay tomorrow!! We will be with you in spirit...

Sue X