Soccer City Is Gorgeous
Gerry Penny/European Pressphoto Agency/New York Times
Luis Fabiano scoring the first of his two goals for Brazil, which got two assists (and an ejection) from Kaká in its second victory.
After a very long three nights, I finally made it to South Africa. Three red eyes is not fun, but the experiences along the way made the travel worth the effort. Jo'Burg is rather depressed but city is pulsing with the fever of the World Cup. I'm now visiting Durban, and the warm air and beautiful Indian Ocean are amazing.
I saw the USA win tie in an Irish Pub in Miami Beach. The atmosphere was exciting. Each goal brought screaming and jumping from everyone. In Germany, I was lucky enough to grab a shower in the airport. Cario was a whirlwind. Dave and I barely made the trek to Giza to visit the Pyrimads. We rode horses through the sand and saw the Sphinx and a few of the Pyrimads. It was a surreal moment, but unfortunately hurried. I'm glad we had enough time for the experience.
After landing in Jo'Burg, our entire group meet at the hostel in Yeoville. The hostel is an enclave in an otherwise unnerving area. The people of Jo'Burg were very welcoming and happy, but the city has seen better days.
Our entire hostel (about 20 people) went to see Brazil v Ivory Coast at Soccer City. We walked as a group to the train station which was safer than walking by yourself or with only a few people. We had to wait over an hour for a train, but the platform was crowed with Vuvuzela playing fans covered in yellow and orange. I didn't know it then, but this was going to be an amazing evening.
The train slowly made its way across the city, and a drunk German kept our entire train car laughing with his views on Italy's history of diving. Eventually, Soccer City rose on the horizon. As we moved from right to left, the entire train would shift from one side to the other to get better views and pictures. Everyone was astonished. I kept hear, "It looks like a spaceship" which it does.
With plenty of time before the game, we downed Budweisers outside the stadium. I took a ton of pictures of the facade. The real excitement was inside of Soccer City. Not only is the stadium brand new, but our seats were excellent. We sat behind the goal were the Ivory Coast attacked the first half in the 200 level. In the section to our left was an entire Brazilian band. Over the 90 minutes, they played their drums and horns. The music was amazing.
The fans weren't the only entertaiment. The match ended 3-1, and Brazil deserved the win. They held off the Ivory Coast and capitalized on their chances. Fabiano's first goal was sick, but he did handle the ball at least twice. I guess the ref was too busy gawking to notice. Drogba should have scored more than 1, but the night belonged to Brazil. Which makes me wonder why Kaka lost his cool. I've never seen him push another player, but the drama just added to the entire experience. I'm so glad this was our first game.
As Herczeg pointed out, I believe this was the best sporting experience of our lives. I don't want to see another soccer game without the Brazilian fans. The stadium kept pulsing an pulsing. It was unbelievable.
I can't send pictures with my phone, and I am not sure why the local network won't let me. Anyway, I haven't been able to send any to Momentile. I'll kept trying, but I don't think I'll ever be successful.
