Pace the debate about whether the WC should have been held in South Africa at all, I dismounted from my moral high horse when the event got underway - and went to Ellis Park yesterday to sit in the blazing sunshine (in my corner) and watch the world champions (of football) get knocked out of the competition. Frankly they deserved it - for the entire first half of the game they all seemed too tired - or too old - to run. By the time they woke up it was too late - Slovakia felt pumped up and confident and kept knocking in goals.
The atmosphere before the game was better than the match itself - lots of fans had dressed up and painted their faces, and the sponsors offered various activities in and outside their mini-pavilions, so there was music (Coca-Cola) and dancing (Sony) and face-painting (Visa) and gimmicks like being allowed to sign one of the biggest footballs ever made (Hyundai). When the game started the chanting of the Italian fans behind us was louder than the vuvuzelas, but after the first Slovakian goal they went very quiet apart from occasional bursts of scurrilous abuse directed at the Slovak goalkeeper - who did in fact seem to feign an injury every time he was touched.
I was struck by how small the field seemed compared to how you see it on TV; and how it was impossible at times to understand what was happening on the pitch (in my corner we all had a fit of collective joy at the Italian equaliser - only to realise eventually, when there was a goalkick, that it had been disallowed); and I was also struck by how slow all the players seemed to be - but perhaps that was just the ponderous pace set by the lethargic Italians. Going to see a World Cup match was certainly worth doing once, but on balance I'd say football is better on TV - you can change channel or go and make a cup of tea if it gets too boring.
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