Today was my first World Cup game; we went to Soccer City stadium here in Johannesburg for Argentina versus South Korea. It was an incredible first experience - once we got to the stadium (after a fairly miserable park-and-ride experience that we're currently still suffering through - we're caught in traffic leaving a local university parking lot as I write this . . .) Everything was perfect.
While it's been cold here, the temperatures were pleasant for the game and the sun was shining. The stadium was packed with 82,000+ fans, tons of them rooting for Argentina (there was a sea of sky blue across the stadium from us). Korea had a strong showing, too, and unfurled giant South Korean flags over its crowd during the playing of their national anthem which was an incredible sight. The opening ceremonies (national anthems and flag and team entrances) were more impressive in person than on TV, too.
The stadium was very modern, impressive and really unique looking, especially from the outside (it looks like a massive piece of pottery, if you haven't seen it - pictures to come). Our seats were somehow in the second row of the entire stadium, in the corner by the goal where South Korea scored their lone goal and Argentina put in two late tallies to make it a 4-1 final (the highest scoring game yet). We weren't sitting by any crazy hooligans - most people around us were fairly mild mannered. We were on the Jumbos for about 20 seconds during halftime, though, which got the people in our section riled up.
It was a perfect first game for me to attend - arguably the nicest venue in the country, the chance to see one of the world's top teams play (and succeed), and a great day for it all weather-wise. It will be interesting to contrast today with tomorrow's USA game in Ellis Park, Jo'burg's older venue, where I'll be more of a "participating fan" rather than an objective observer. Hopefully tomorrow is just as awesome as today was - and hopefully the park-and-ride experience is a lot better.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
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