The next day we began to realize how difficult it would be to communicate with the outside world without a car or a computer. We spent the beginning of the day arranging transport to an from a local mall basically just to use the internet. Driving through the hood to get to the malls in South Africa, where most of the shopping occurs in the large cities, reveals some of the pervasive social issues. There are grassfires and beggars everywhere, but the malls and developments are very nice.
We got back in time to watch the first match of the day in the bar at the Thatchery, then geared up. We realized that we should all have at least some America stuff on us at every game, and that one of us should be the designated All-American. Scott was up first. Dave Koken, Hirsh's buddy, had lent me the pants. I bought the tie at the Fifa store. Scott had picked up the button-up short sleeve shirt at a Bass Pro Shop and bought us all scarves for graduation (which for me was a year late), and we have had USA bandanas forever.
The first game we were going to was Brazil v. Ivory Coast at Soccer City. This was in the Group of Death- with Portugal and North Korea finishing out the foursome. On paper it was probably the most anticipated group stage game. With a goalless draw between Portugal and Ivory Coast and only a 2-1 win against Kim Jong Il's side, it was must win for Ivory Coast and no holds barred for Brazil.
Due to the smarminess of Brazil supporters, the heartbreaking 3-2 USA Brazil final in last summer's Confederation's Cup, and the fact that Ivory Coast was an African side- we were supporting Ivory Coast. I was also supporting them because Didier Drogba and Solomon Kalou, two Chelsea players, are Ivorians. I wore my away Drogba jersey. Orange is their color, so Andy repped with what he had and I wore my UT cap.
Soccer City is built in Soweto. It is where the opening ceremony and first game was held and where the final will be. There are black lines drawn through the sections pointing to the 9 other venues of the World Cup. 9, however, is an unlucky number in South Africa, so a tenth line pointing to where the 2006 final was held in Germany. The district is notoriously poor, and just about the only place you can build a stadium to envy Wembley that is somewhat accessible. Nevertheless, there was about a 2 mile walk to the stadium through fenced in areas with mobs of people. The Brazilians were out in force, but their stuff was simply more available from the street vendors. The crowd was pretty close to half and half.
The inside of the stadium was spectacular. There were short lines for beer, food, and bathroom. We were on the top level at the corner, with a great view of the tactical breakdown of the game. The section we were sitting in were primarily supporting Ivory Coast, including some Canadians sitting next to us. One of the guys lived in Cambridge, surprisingly. Until we sat in the seats, it was a bit hard to believe that we were actually on a roll.
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