Brazil 3 - 1 Ivory Coast

One of the recurring themes of World Cup 2010 is how all the South Africans are pulling for the other African nations. After Bafana Bafana, the South Africans are rooting for Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and - to a lesser extent - Algeria, regardless of opponent. At the same time, Brazil is one of the most popular soccer teams in the world. The Yankees of professional soccer, they are particularly well liked by the South Africans, with whom they share similar colors.

Last night we went back to Soccer City for probably the biggest spectacle of the first round - a night game between the Brazilians and Africa's own Ivory Coast Elephants. While the Ivorians had a solid fan base, there were yellow-clad Brazil fans everywhere. We saw Brazilians wearing funky wigs, carrying drums and blowing whistles and vuvuzelas. There was a band featuring half a dozen drummers and a saxophone player in our section, which added an awesome South American flavor to the game. Attendance was over 84,000 and the stadium was deafening whenever Brazil made a good play, and particularly when they scored each of their three goals.

We had good seats - not as good as our first visit to see South Korea play Argentina, but we still had a great view from the third row of the middle deck, behind the net into which two of the game's four goals were scored. It was cold at night (the norm since I've been here), but we were prepared and dressed properly. It was great to see Brazil play - they are aggressive, flamboyant and extremely talented, and I think a trip to the World Cup wouldn't be complete without this game. It was also good to see Ivory Coast give Africa something to cheer about, achieving no small feat by scoring on the mighty Brazilians.

Our next game is Wednesday night - we head back north of Jo'burg to Pretoria to see the USA take on Algeria in a game that will determine America's second round fate. Win and we advance, lose and we go home, tie and we'll be at England's mercy. I can't wait for that game - it should be like the Slovenia game times ten - but we have some great nature viewing ahead before then (we're in the car driving to Blyde River Canyon, the third largest canyon on Earth, as I write this). And don't worry - I'm sure we'll find time to watch some of today and tomorrow's action on TV, too.
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