A Whirlwind Start!

We have seen three games in the last 48 hours (and been at four venues since we arrived). Internet access and time to write has been extremely limited so far, but we are headed to the orphanage tonight for the Loskop World Cup, and should hopefully have time to catch up with detailed posts. For now, here is our first 36 hours in South Africa!

THE PRETORIA SCAMPER - SPAIN VS. CHILE

A few weeks before we left Brian and Mark realized that Spain and Chile were playing in Pretoria 3 hours after our plane touches down in Johannesburg.... Spain is our favorite team, so the wheels started turning in our heads - if we have the energy when we land. . .

We touched down in Joburg at 5:30 pm, got our luggage, went through customs, rented the cars, feared for our life driving to the hotel totally jet lagged on the left side of the road in a car with the steering wheel on the right side. Our plan was to give the Spain match a try if we made it to the hotel and it looked like it could work. Of course, we didn't have tickets but we figured we'd just show up and see if we could find them on the street.

We jumped out of the cab in Pretoria at 8:30, the exact time the match started. Brian had a moment of euphoria when he thought he found three tickets and was close to handing over the money until he saw the words "South Korea" on the ticket. South Korea had played a group game in Pretoria the previous week. Nice try buddy... Then a South African guy asked him to give him the Spain jersey he was wearing (#6 Iniesta on the back...). An even nicer try...but wait! "You can have this jersey but I'm gonna need a ticket to the game", Brian said. He says, "Just a minute" and takes off towards some friends. Now Jared and Nainoa are freaking out...why would Brian trade his Iniesta jersey for a ticket? Simple. $80 jersey that he can replace for a $200 ticket to watch Spain under pressure of going out of the World Cup at the group stage. In the end the guy couldn't deliver so he still has his jersey. Oh well...

So we were unsuccessful at getting tickets and instead watched the match on an outdoor big screen TV a few blocks from the stadium. It was a bit painful being so close to the match that the vuvuzelas were louder than our voices and not being able to see the match live. At least Spain won 2-1 to go through so there is still a chance for us to see them play in the Durban semi-final.

OUR SOUTH AFRICAN SWEAR WORD: RUSTENBERG

The day before we left for South Africa, Landon Donovan scored a stoppage time goal against Algeria to put the USA through to the Round of 16. Where and when would they play? 24 hours after we arrive in Joburg and about 75 miles northwest. Perfect!

So Mark checked on the FIFA website and was able to purchase tickets for all of us about 4 hours before we got on the plane in Seattle. Awesome! We were going to get to see the USA play Ghana in the Round of 16! Hadn't planned that!

Let us get this out of the way now: It bewilders us why FIFA would choose Rustenberg as a venue for the world's marquee soccer event. More later.
The morning of the match at our hotel we met a Brit named Glenn. Glen is from Ipswich and is a huge Aston Villa fan. Like most UK football fans he lives and breathes English football. A bad pass or a missed chance at goal requires a trip to his bottle of anti-depressant medication. Kidding. Glenn had purchased tickets to the Rustenberg match because England were favored to win Group C (which the USA ended up winning) and he needed a ride. It must have taken a bit of pride swallowing to ask for a ride to the match from a couple "Yanks", but he did and we had room with us (Brian and Mark - LeiMomi, Dianne and the boys were in the other car) in the car to Rustenberg.

Brian has had a bit of interaction with a few Brits in the last couple years and one thing he can say: they are not shy about sharing their opinion on everything football. We had a lot of fun chatting with Glenn on the car ride to and from Rustenberg...we just didn't realize it would be a nearly 10 hours worth.
Yes. 10 hours for a round trip of 150 miles...check this out.

We pull into Rustenberg and can see the stadium lights 3 hours prior to match start. We follow the parking officials directions to a large field that is still a good mile or two from the stadium. We see that there are charter buses waiting to take fans to the stadium. Shuttles to a stadium that only holds a little over 40,000fans? OK, whatever. FIFA has put on 19 World Cups, they should know what they are doing...

So we stand in line for a shuttle for a few minutes, and we are 3 hours early. The thought crosses our minds. We had to wait and we are early. There aren't very many buses here. When the game ends there won't be a trickle of fans needing a ride, there will be ALL the fans wanting a ride. Hmm...could be interesting....

The bus then takes us to another field about a half mile from the stadium where we get out and walk the rest of the way. Looking at this field we wonder, "Now why are we not parking in this field instead of the one several miles away?" FIFA has put on 19 World Cups, there must be a reason.

So we get into the stadium and have our first World Cup experience. Lots of Americans, lots of English, lots of Africans rooting for Ghana whether they were actually from Ghana or not. Exciting match that the US should have won, even though they played sub-par. It was sad to see the US players just laying on the field when the final whistle blew and their World Cup run was over.

Then the real fun began.

There were only 34,000 people at this match. Less than the average Sounders game.
We backtrack to the bus lot with EVERY other fan (as we expected). The only sign giving us direction is one with the name of the lot we parked in: South. The other lot: North. So, probably 17,000 or so people are all wanting to get to the same lot at the same time on too few buses. Not good.

Lines? Workers to direct us where to go? Nope. Fend f
or youself. Even if you are 55 pound nine-year old Nainoa...

The only mechanism for directing fans to buses? 8 foot tall snow-fencing that funnels to about 6 feet wide where the bus stops. It's 11 pm and 17,000 fans are trying to funnel through 3 of these structures to get back to the parking lot...
Ever wonder why you hear about trampling deaths at soccer matches?

Imagine standing jam-packed for an hour with a slowly moving mob that mo
ved forward by 50-60 people every time a bus filled. Nainoa told Brian later that he just kept trying to follow his bright yellow shoes. Brian knew they had a purpose!

To make matters even more interesting, we were pressed hard (literally) against a group of very vocal Ghana fans the entire time. Chants of "the big elephant (USA) is dead" and other more derogatory statements went on the entire time.

So we finally get on the bus, after midnight, and make the 2 mile trip back to the field that is the South parking lot. Are there parking officials and police directing traffic back to the ONE LANE road leading back to the highway? Not a one in sight.

So now we have the exact same situation we had after the game at the stadium. Everyone converging to a common spot, except this time in cars. Whatever you imagine, it was worse. But hey, FIFA has put on 19 World Cups, they know what they are doing. Right?

An hour later we finally get out of the parking lot and turn onto the one lane road back to the highway. The one lane road with everyone else...

I won't bore you wtih more details, but it took another 4 hours to drive the 75 miles back to Johannesburg. We arrived back at the hotel at 4:45 am, almost 6 hours after the match let out 75 miles away. But hey, FIFA has put on 19 World Cups. They know what they are doing. Right?

We had a fun time with our English friend Glenn on the drive back. We even prodded him into singing some English football songs for us.

NEXT UP: COMPLETION OF OUR THREE MATCHES IN 48 HOURS WITH SOCCER CITY (ARGENTINA/MEXICO) AND DURBAN (NETHERLANDS/SLOVAKIA).