Once we found the Inter City bus for 240 ZAR (about$30 US), it still took close to an hour to actually get tickets in hand as the woman seemed to be on her own with many requests and redundant work to complete), ergo the popular expression: TIA (this is Africa).
[Eager fans waiting to board the bus to Rustenburg]
We had a little time to take care of some biz online and grab a bite and a beer before we had to queue up for the bus, which ended up in 2 buses which held about 80 passengers, snuggly, for what we were told was a 2-2.5 hour drive which ended up being 3.75 hours, and that's with the police escort we got into the stadium.
The atmosphere on the bus was initially leaning English support, and this was when I realized how painfully lacking in soccer chants the US is. As the time passed, and bladders filled, they became silent, until the bus driver granted their desperate cry for a stop [photo] about 2 hours in (unbeknownst to all, we still had almost 2 hours left to go). There was an incident when someone attempted to discard some liquid waste out the window, only for it to boomerang back through a rear window causing some valid anger to rise from the USA boys in the back.
The atmosphere on the bus was initially leaning English support, and this was when I realized how painfully lacking in soccer chants the US is. As the time passed, and bladders filled, they became silent, until the bus driver granted their desperate cry for a stop [photo] about 2 hours in (unbeknownst to all, we still had almost 2 hours left to go). There was an incident when someone attempted to discard some liquid waste out the window, only for it to boomerang back through a rear window causing some valid anger to rise from the USA boys in the back.
[the long over due and almost too late pit stop]
The buzz at Royal Bofokeng Stadium was unreal! The stadium is small intimate, however incomplete as the big screens, scoreboard and clock were not yet operational. The support for both sides was tremendous! Amy and I were in section 210, right at the edge of the giant American flag would show itself on a few occasions.
[Stadium atmosphere; pre-game warm-up]
Being in the US supporters section lent to some fun and some lude cheers, but all at a deafening pitch. So much so, the vuvuzelas couldn't compete. The crowd was silenced early on, in the 4th minute to be exact, when Gerrard struck for the game's first goal.
Spirits weren't dampened, however the chants got a bit uglier as time passed. The game was very exciting, and didn't give US a chance to sit down the entire time. It was an incredible experience, and well deserved result!
[semi-functioning scoreboard; USA players thank fans]
The bus ride home was much more subdued than the ride up, in fact, most of us were comatose the entire ride.
June 13: Sunday's games were viewed from the Montecasino, at 50 Rand, or about $7, hat, drink and sketchy hot dog included. After Slovenia took the 3 points from Algeria putting them first in our group, we saw full Ghana support for their 1-0 win over Serbia.
[Montecasino Fan Fest; our Nigerian friends]
Later that evening, we settled into what we thought was a quiet wine bar with TVs, only to meet several World Cup goers that seemed to have been celebrating since the first match. It was like the United Nations with Americans, South Africans, Nigerians, South Africans living in Switzerland, etc. Man, I love how World Cup brings the world together!
June 14: 945am headed out to Soccer City to try to score Ned-Den tickets, and after the taxi driver argued with the police about dropping us off, he told us our 300 ZAR trip was 500+ (on the meter, which was conveniently tucked under his dash, and out of sight), what!? For the sake of peace, we agreed on 400 ZAR. Thankfully, each of us was able to buy tickets from locals for only 150 ZAR (~$20) each. Let me clarify this extreme bargain, that's 1/4 of what we paid FIFA for our tickets to the USA matches, and roughly the same category! Not to be overlooked, there were foreigners charging 300 Euro for Cat 1 tix. Bastards!
[Soccer City; Holland v Denmark, Soccer City, Joburg; Vuvuzelas]
Inside Soccer City was deafening, fortunately I remembered my earplugs this time, and wore them the entire game, which to be honest, really changes the mood, but despite that and the boring match, I can't complain, it was only 20 bucks! I would have spent more on souvenirs had they wanted my money, the shops only accept Visa, as does the ATM machine, what a shame.
[Amy and me with my earplugs]
Just awesome Teresa!!
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