Germany 4 - 1 England

If one game had to be my last of this World Cup, I'm glad it was this one. Germany's dismantling of England was the best non-US game I've been to, a matchup of two great fan bases cheering on two of soccer's powerhouses. It was about as good and intense of a second round game as you can get, and the players didn't disappoint.
We got to Bloemfontein after driving the 4 hours from Jo'burg early in the day. I was expecting both the city and the stadium to be awful - we had heard that the area is known only for it's constant conflicts between white people and black people - but was pleased to find both to be decent. The town is small but quaint, and we had perfect weather for both the longish walk from the parking lot and for the game itself.
We got to the converted rugby stadium early, but there were tons of British and German fans already there waiting for us. The two countries have some of the most passionate and knowledgeable fans in the world; it was great to see what USA soccer could potentially become some day. While the vuvuzelas were still as annoying as ever, they were complimented by constant singing and chanting by both sides, which made the atmosphere great.
The stadium was decent - it's old and plain, but well-suited for soccer and definitely superior to some places we've been (Rustenburg certainly, and I thought Pretoria too). We had upper deck seats, but the steep stands put us close to the action. We had a perfect view of the horrendous call on England's second "goal," and got great opportunities to see Germany's "precision machine," as my Mom put it, in the second half. The sun shone throughout the first half, and we wore T-shirts throughout the game, a first for us here in South Africa.
I'm still not completely over the American loss from yesterday, but I'm glad we originally expected the USA to finish second in Group C and thus bought tickets to today's game. We certainly went out on a high note. Now we're off to the local casino, of all places, to grab dinner and watch Argentina versus Mexico. Who knows; that experience might warrant a post of its own.
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