So that time that I went to the World Cup Semi-Final...

I pledged that after the 4th I would spend a week only drinking water and resting. After travelling that hard and keeping up with the cup, my body was giving in.

All was going according to plan. I went to work, came back and did some reading and journaling, and was headed to bed when I got a text message.

It was from Bob. He said 'I have two tickets to the semi-final, our treat' and an invitation to lunch for the next day. Though I had been to 7 matches, I was still so excited I could barely sleep.

I convinced Cary to join me for lunch, which was a good idea since my new year's resolution was to avoid the 3-2 dynamic (when there 5 people split 3-2 genderwise). We ate with Dan, Toni, Amber, and Bob at a really nice sushi place down on the Waterfront, because of course we did.

I had also arranged to get my hair cut that day. The shag isn't quite as endearing in the law student world, and it doesnt look as good without the chlorine infusion that bleached and fried it when I was in high school. Its short haircuts from here on out. The place close by that did white dude hair was called 'boygirl hair.' A guy cut my hair and it took 1 hour, 40 minutes. I was laughing the whole time at how ludicrous it was. He was also insistent on that douchey haircut that almost every South African guy has where you fauhawk your hair with gel (sorry Parker). I couldn't fight him too much on it and talk about how it makes people look really dumb, since he had that haircut himself.

I went back and washed all that gel out of my hair and put on an Orange Longhorns hat a camper had left in the lost and found after camp one year. (Ben Heil, if you are reading this, I have adversely possessed your hat. Deal with it) and my HLS Texas Club shirt. Burnt Orange is orange enough for the Dutch.

The fan walk- 2 miles from the Stadium

David wanted wo wear my Chuck Davies jersey.

Look at the guy's cool orange suit.

Fan walk

In front of the Stadium

From Bob's hotel patio

There is a mountain at my back and the ocean just on the other side of the stadium.

Dan and Bob are jaded, but Amber wanted to go to the game early.

I want to know the story behind this jersey.

Van Brockhurst scored an absolutely awesome goal.

The flag on the right is the UN flag. I have never noticed it before, but have no idea why it is there. FIFA is WAY more important than the UN.

The dutch crushed Uruguay. It was a very vindictive crowd.

There was a fight in the stands.

The Dutch started celebrating about 10 minutes before the game ended.

The Uruguayans scored one in the 88th minute or so- making it 3-2.

They have the 4th of July in Africa, too

After Germany Argentina was going to the same English pub that we pregamed the England USA game to watch Spain versus Paraguay. There were a few goofy PK calls, but it was a pretty dull game compared to the one that we had just seen.

We had gone back to the hotel and changed into USA clothes, then went out on Long Street. We ended up going to Cape to Cuba and waiting until midnight. We toasted Jack Daniels shots to America, then called it a night.

Andy, Scott, Tyler, and I went to the waterfront for them to do last minute souvenir shopping. The FIFA worker said that the shop opened at 7 AM. He is a liar. We wandered around and waited for it to open. Everyone stocked up with their toys, then we headed back to Saasveld. At 10:30 or so, I put the guys into a cab to the airport. They were off to Joburg and then onward: Scott and Tyler to go back home, Andy to Thailand.

I took a bath- probably my first one in 3 years- totally exhausted. That road trip with my college roommates had been in the works for 2 years. Incredible. It required a lot of leg work to set up and a lot of luck to pull off. I just felt really proud of all of us for making it happen. Once in a lifetime.

However, it was the 4th of July, which meant I had to do something cool. Hirsh and I decided to go to Camps Bay for the afternoon.

Everything in Camps Bay is beautiful.

At first it was just Hirsh and me playing frisbee.

The tableau of the mountains with the sea is pretty epic.

Hirsh's frat bros showed up to join us.

We met some young Argentines and played Soccer.

They were pretty devastated by the loss to Germany.

Cary and two of her friends joined us.
As did Nick.

John and John, newcomers, had an awesome USA jersey and a world cup 94 Jacket.

The roommates.

I wanted a picture with Hirsh almost as gay as the one I have with Doug Desroches in Greece.

An adorable kid showed up and wanted to play frisbee.

Then some older Argentines wanted to play us in soccer.
I swear I was being nice to this kid- this picture is hilarious though.
Sunset beach soccer. USA v Argentina. July 4th. Cape Town, South Africa.


It had been a while since I had run around.
One of the Argentines swapped his Carlos Tevez jersey for John's USA one. It was AWESOME.
The Argentines were out for blood

The game ended 3-2 Argentina. Respectable.

Cary had arranged a dinner for us at the Gold Museum. A 15 course African meal from all of the countries that were in the world cup. There were drummers and dancers and puppets for an 'authentic entertainment' experience. It was good but I don't think decadent 15 course meals are the standard African experience.

So my July 4th was not lakes and fireworks, but it was a pretty unique and special day. God Bless America.

Germany 4 Argentina 0

We got up early for some souvenirs at Green Market Square.

I was in communication with Bob McNutt, a family friend from Corsicana who knew my parents in college. This was Bob's 10th World Cup. His father had been one of the partners in the Dallas Tornado- the NALS Team from the 70s. Along with his friend Lamar Hunt, the two were instrumental in advancing soccer in the States. Lamar's son, Dan, and Bob were travelling with their girlfriends to see the final stages of the cup, and were in Cape Town for the quarter-final. There was a third travelling pair that didn't make it. With incredible generousity from them and good fortune for us, they gave me two additional tickets. Hirsh, a new convert to soccer, and David, who played for Harvard and is crazy about the sport, were able to join the four of us for the quarter-final. We definitely ended up seeing the most intriguing matchup- next to brazil netherlands- of the quarterfinals.

Scott, Tyler, Andy and I met Bob and his girlfriend Amber for dinner beforehand, at the Cape Royale across from the stadium.

The TVs were in the pool.

The skybar probably has a great view in the summer, but in the winter it was closed off because of the wind.

From hotel.

6 of us

From their hotel balcony.

There were parades on the fan walk.

From our seats.

The walk to the stadium in Cape Town is great.

Signal Hill and Table Mountain

David and I took the tickets with Bob, Amber, Dan, and Toni. Dan's family owns FC Dallas and the Colombus Crew, so the tickets were actually part of the US Soccer Federation allotment. We were on the 7th row, just behind the Argentina bench.

We were stoked.

Bob and Amber with David and Me.

Someone asked with my 'Don't Mess With Texas' USA belt and wristband, and Germany scarf if I felt like I was splitting my loyalty. I told them I was dressed like Audie Murphy.

Diego when they were down by 3.

Diego in his suit. Though crazy, at least he didn't look homeless.

These seats put us in taunting range. When Maradona tried and failed to trap a ball that was going out of play I yelled 'USE YOUR HAND, DIEGO! EL MANO!' The gliteratti around me found that pretty funny.

The Argentines got SMOKED 4-0. It was awesome.