World Cup Diary July 05

From Sukhdev in South Africa...

I'm at the gate waiting to leave Cape Town and have some time before boarding to reflect on the journey I have taken.

I arrived in South Africa without too many preconceptions of what to expect. So I was open to being impressed, and though there have been some hiccups, I have been very impressed.

First and foremost, all the people in South Africa have been very friendly without regard to colour, creed, religion or whether they were from South Africa, or elsewhere. Having travelled both alone and with friends, I have seen that it was easy to make new friends and be catered for as a group. I did not see or hear from other travellers any issues with security and, as that was a major issue for people who would not travel here, it has become very apparent they were plainly wrong.

After the Uruguay vs Ghana game, transport back to Johannesburg from the stadium was efficient. I took a train to Jo'burg and walked from the stadium to my hostel, with two of the guys I was with. A police car stopped us and actually gave us a lift to the hostel saying it was not the best neighbourhood to walk in, so you still need to take some precautions. The arrival at the hostel was greeting by cheers by other travellers for the police car for the taxi ride.

Organisation has been great, though when things did go wrong or someone wanted to do something the organisers did not think of (see below), stewards were not able to help. A lack of training of the hundreds of stewards and police at these points became evident. But on the whole I cannot complain on a virtually easy trip to South Africa.

The knock-on effect of not enough people travelling to South Africa was the lack of supporters from the various countries participating. However, the Africans made up the numbers and at least black market tickets remained within the reach of all fans. Most tickets, especially in the group games, were sold at a fraction of the face value. Also, I saw a different way of supporting a team from the controversial vuvuzela to the african dancing where entire seating areas seem to have choreographed moves that were great to watch, especially if a game was a bit boring.

Even watching the games in the FIFA fan fests were great. I watched the England vs Germany game in one, and though the result made me very sad, the spectacle was good. I also watched the Brazil vs Holland game in a packed out fan fest in New Town in Johannesburg. It was almost like being at the game: lots of cheering, vuvuzelas and passion.

In the end, I had an opportunity to watch seven games. Some of them dragged on such as Switzerland vs Honduras in the cold at Bloemfontain to the classic of Uruguay vs Ghana. I have always wanted to see a penalty shoot out live, and though the Ghana team was unlucky, the atmosphere was electric, as clichéd as that sounds. I have found most games, especially the group games, had better second halves than first halves, which may reflect the pressure many of the teams were under, and fewer classics to be found.

Saying that the knockout stages have not been found too wanting. The Germans seem to have hit high gear, and the Spain vs Germany semi final has all the hallmarks of a great game. Germany beating England 4-1 was a little hard to take, but at least I was at the Argentina vs Germany game to see another fours goals from the German goal machine. Both teams seemed to be a little light in midfield, and that is where Spain excel, so I cannot see a repeat for the Germans. In fact I expect Spain to win. Being at the Argentina game, I could see how much space and time Swinesteiger had in the middle of the field. Though Ozil is getting all the plaudits, Swinesteiger's presence went unchecked by an Argentine midfield that only really contained Mascherano.

The Argentina vs Germany game was my last, and in Cape Town, which with Durban are my two favourite cities. However, I think the stadium in Cape Town is located in the wrong place on the coast. This limits access and many fans probably missed Germany's early goal because of the delays in getting in due to the sheer number of people trying to get in. At least it was good natured.

Apart from the football, Cape Town has a number of other things on offer from the V&A Waterfront and hiking Table Mountain, to taking a car to Cape Point and the numerous wine farms.

Durban was also a great tourist destination, where I went on safari to see elephants, rhino, giraffes, buffalo amongst others, but unfortunately no big cats this time. The beach is good and safe, and the water is warmer than in Cape Town.

I guess the only down points came in Rustenburg, where stewards did not know the names or how to get to the various park and rides. Maps and better training would have been useful here. Also, I arrived to the Uruguay vs Ghana game 30 minutes into the first half because stewards at the game gave me incorrect directions, and transport only moving in one direction. The volunteer stewards have done very well, but have been let down by the organisers who could have trained them better. Even during the most frustrating times, the stewards remained upbeat and tried to help where they could, so I cannot fault their good nature.

Anyway, now it is time to board and I am definitely ready to stop travelling from city to city and get back to my own bed. But South Africa is on my list of places to visit again.