2010's dress rehearsal
As USA getting to the final suggests, it could be unwise to base your World Cup predictions on the Confederations Cup.
This applies off the pitch as much as on it.
The eight-team tournament won by Brazil was played in just four cities and more than 95% of the crowds were South African.
Next summer will be very different, with 500,000 foreign fans expected to descend on South Africa to watch 32 teams in 10 venues across the entire nation.
Still, the Confederations Cup is the dress rehearsal for the World Cup, South Africa's mock exam before the finals. So how have they done?
On Friday, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said the country had passed with flying colours, declaring the tournament a "tremendous success".
Attendances have certainly been good by previous standards, with an average of more than 38,000 watching the games, according to 2010 supremo Danny Jordaan.
He says this "eclipses" previous tournaments in France in 1997, when the average was 30,000, and Germany in 2005, when it was 37,000.
But there have been empty seats at all of the matches, even at Thursday's semi between Bafana Bafana and Brazil, and Sunday's final, which were both played in Johannesburg's Ellis Park.
There are a number of reasons, ranging from the cost of a ticket being three times what it is for South African Premier League matches, to some of the games - and I'm thinking of Iraq against New Zealand in particular - being less than glamorous.
South Africans are not used to watching football in the cold, dark evenings of winter either, as their Premier League is held in summer.
And there are unlikely to be any empty seats at the World Cup. There have already been more than 500,000 applications for tickets, according to Fifa, and at least 80% of the crowds will be foreign.
The atmosphere at the Confederations Cup has been uniquely African. The noise at Sunday's final was unlike any other match I have been to, with the deafening din of vuvuzelas, the loud plastic trumpets, echoing around the stadium like a giant herd of elephants.
Blatter has voiced concerns about the noise of these instruments but Jordaan says: "Watching football on the African continent is a noisy place.
"Fans come with their horns and drums and in South Africa, the vuvuzela.
"When the matches are filled with say Brazil or England fans at next summer's World Cup, there will be far fewer vuvuzelas."
The Cup has been held in four stadiums - Ellis Park in Johannesburg, the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, Royal Bafokeng in Rustenburg and Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria - all of which will be World Cup venues.
Fifa has told the 2010 organising committee that work still needs to be done on these venues, particularly in improving their media facilities, and they do seem old-fashioned.
In contrast, the six brand-new stadiums being built for the World Cup are state of the art.
I have been to three of them - Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elizabeth, Moses Mabhida in Durban and Green Point in Cape Town - and they looked absolutely magnificent.
The flagship venue of the World Cup will be the 94,000-seat Soccer City in Soweto, Johannesburg, which will host the opening match and final.
It is due to be finished in December and handed over to Fifa next March and project manager Mike Moody insists it will be unique. The venue is built on the site of the old FNB Stadium, where Nelson Mandela made his homecoming speech after being released from prison in 1990.
"I don't know of any other stadium in the world that is going to have this history," said Englishman Moody. "Who else has got Nelson Mandela?"
Although Soccer City has 15,000 car-parking spaces, the other stadiums are not so well-equipped and Jordaan admits transport has not been good enough at the Confederations Cup.
Public transport to the stadiums has seemed to be non-existant and people walk, drive or get taxis to the venues.
A new "Bus Rapid Transit" system, providing new buses in dedicated lanes, is due to open in Johannesburg by the end of the year. The local taxi drivers are up in arms, but the service is badly needed.
And now on to the issue that most needles Jordaan - crime.
The issue of security has come into the spotlight at the Confederations Cup following thefts at the Brazil and Egypt team hotels.
Lions fans were carjacked outside Johannesburg before the first Test and at the same time there was an awful front-page story about three South African brothers being carjacked, stuffed in the boot and driven to Durban, where one of them died of suffocation.
Jordaan inists: "We are very, very serious about safety. 1.3 billion Rand has been invested in security ahead of the World Cup by the government."
Security at Ellis Park for the Confederations Cup final certainly seemed excellent.
I had my bag checked three times and police lined the main routes leading to the stadium.
Yet, whatever the organisers say, there are no-go areas in the city, where taxi drivers and hotel staff advise you not to go.
On a more positive note, Bafana Bafana's form at the Confederations Cup has created a bit of football fever ahead of the World Cup.
At the start of the tournament, when the hosts were struggling through the group stages, fans and pundits were calling for the heads of coach Joel Santana and captain Aaron Mokoena.
South Africa's march to the semis and excellent performance against Spain in the third-place play-off changed all this, galvanising the country. Jordaan says these performances have drawn in an increasing number of white South African supporters.
"We have about 2.1 million football fans in this country who are white," he says "but their teams are Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. "At the Confederations Cup they have really come out to support Bafana Bafana."
The crowd for the final was the most mixed I have seen at any sporting event, certainly far more so than at the Lions' tour matches this summer. Jordaan admits the fortunes of the national team will be important to the success of the World Cup next year.
"It is very important for the host nation to do well," he says. "We have a young team and they are growing in confidence. It is a huge mountain to climb though."
So what is Jordaan's final verdict on the Confederations Cup?
"Overall we are very happy," he says. "We have to relook the transport strategy and strengthen that, adding buses.
"And we must not celebrate too early - the Confederations Cup is a small event and it doesn't automatically mean the World Cup will be a success."
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"As USA getting to the final suggests, it could be unwise to base your World Cup predictions on the Confederations Cup"
I would perhaps disagree, who's to say that the USA can't do well at the World Cup? Turning over Spain and giving Brazil a run for their money, they may have a shot at causing some surprises in 2010.
Good blog though, from the point of view of a TV viewer (rather than someone in SA) it would seem all went well and the signs for 2010 are good (all we need now are some innovative vuvuzela barriers or microphones that don't pick up the sound!)
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The "awful" story you refer to in South Africa isn't exactly exclusive to one country. There are stories like this everyday in UK, most go unreported by the media. Being in the position you are Simon in the media I think the last thing you should be doing is evoking feelings of paranoia, it seems to be what the world operates on these days. The tournament couldn't of gone any better than it did, I for one enjoyed it, you've just intended to be as negative as you could possibly be before you even wrote the article.
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" As USA getting to the final suggests, it could be unwise to base your World Cup predictions on the Confederations Cup."
So you don't think USA are much good then?
I thought they played v well as a team and they may surprise a few people...assuming they qualify (maybe I should have checked that out first lol)
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Good blog just a couple of points, It will be a shame if there isn't at least some noise from the South Africans that noise was amazing, one point you haven't made is the state of the pitches...dry choppy sandy hard bouncy everything you don't want at this level of football, the pitch last night resembled a parks pitch on a sunday and that was for a world final!!
If this isn't improved the football will be terrible next year
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Great football throughout the tournament. A lot of attacking football being played by Brazil in particular was great to see. One thing I would like to see is an improvement in the pitches though as they are a bit of the standard you would expect.
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I meant to say a bit below the standard you would expect.
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#2 I think pot and kettle here... looks more like you are focusing on the negative aspects of this article. It is an awful story of someone dying in this fashion and is completely relevant as it has happened during a sporting event where there are visiting fans..
The writer then goes on to praise levels of security he has encountered.. I think this is called writing a balanced piece with both sides of an argument.
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Have been keeping half an eye on the Confed Cup, very impressed by the US's performance. Don't know what sort of omen it is for next year but if they get don't make the WC knockout stages I'll be very surprised.
Despite having on off day vs Costa Rica in a WCQ they are certainly a safe bet to qualify.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the tournament.
I thought the vuvuzelas were great. Who cares if they caused a racket. That was the idea! Plus we have absolutely no right whatsoever to dictate African culture and what they can and cannot do. If they want to play the vuvuzela all game long then good luck to them i say. Creates one hell of an atmosphere! And as for the footballers moaning that they're distracting - who cares!! They're paid in excess of £100,000 a week, so they can play while dodging bullets for all i care.
I think this blog is correct though. If USA qualify for the World Cup, they won't do anything at the tournament. Yes they beat Spain here, but how much were Spain really bothered by the whole thing? They looked absolutely knackered and probably just wanted to go home and rest ahead of the new season! You can't tell me that Spain would play the same way against Brazil or Argentina as they did against USA.
In all, i thought South Africa did a very good job with this tournament. Yes there were empty seats, but you can't blame that on the fans. The ticket prices were extortionate so i'm not sure many people could afford to go. Just think how much it costs a dad and his 2 boys to go and watch a game at Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge. It's the same principle over there.
One things for sure, and that was that Italy were PONY! Good lord. I don't think i've ever seen them play so badly. No pace, no imagination and no coordination. Much work to be done for them before the World Cup.
My 2 favourites for the World Cup before the Confed Cup were Spain and Brazil. And that hasn't changed.
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Another major event under our belts. Transport issues are mainly operational and will need to be improved, although most cities have quite detailed operations plans specifically for the world cup. These are miles better than the Confederations Cup plans, which in many cases were last minute due to the taxi fiasco.
Key focus areas will remain accommodation and transport, with security an issue that needs to be focused on beyond 2010. The 40,000 British and Irish visitors seemed fine roaming through six of our cities, and filling up every pub in Long Street in Cape Town, walking from their city centre hotels to various nightspots without any major concerns/incidents.
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The World Cup needs to feature the vuvuzelas and have South Africans at the matches otherwise it may as well be held in Europe.
Facilities won't be as good as in Germany or France, this is Africa, but that will be part of the event's charm.
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For the sake of the South Africans, I hope the country does more to improve security on a permanent basis, not just for the world cup and the foreigners. Just read on the BBC that 1 in 4 South African men are rapists - that's just crazy and beyound belief.
As of the Confederations Cup. I thought the "vuvuzelas" (thanks for revealing what those horns are called) added a wonderful African element to the games. The noise was non-stop; great stuff. And USA deserved to be in the final for their never say die attitude and great displays against Spain and Brazil. It's also not too uncommon to have a surprise team going far in an international tournament; South Korea, Denmark, Turkey... Can't wait for the Wold Cup now. I'm particularly keen to see what is North Korean football like... But I expect my adopted homeland Brazil to win it, given threir quality and the fact that they have won all their matches in Africa so far.
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The silly trumpet is no substitute for decent chants, singing and a band.
Being African, I thought perhaps they would be inclined to belt out some proper atmosphere with drums.
It sounded like wasps had invaded the Stadium, and if I was playing to that, it would peck my head.
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I can't believe the amount of criticism I've read about poor attendances and noisy horn blowing in some sections of the media during the Confederations cup.
Re. Poor attendances - what did they seriously expect? Are NZ gonna bring thousands of travelling fans? No. Are tickets overpriced for the local SA population? Yes. Is the footy really on the top of most Iraqis agendas at the moment? I doubt it. Are Spanish, Brazillian, Egyptian, Italian and American footy fans gonna pay to come and watch a small, relatively unimportant tournament less than a year before investing so much time and money to travel to the World Cup for a month? Unlikely. As you've titled your blog - it was a DRESS REHEARSAL, a dry run to see how it might all go and I'm sure many valuable lessons have been learnt. When a theatre has a dress rehearsal for a show, they don't have ANY audience at all!
And then there is the rootin-tootin vuvuzelas. As you've said in your blog above, footy in SA is a noisy and colourful experience, and in my opinion all the better for it. I'd much rather listen to that noise than songs about Munich, Hillsborough, various players sexuality etc that we get here. Anyone who moans about it needs to lighten up - especially people who moan about it on the TV coverage - turn the volume down then! I actually read last week someone moaning about the fact that they had to turn their TV off because of the noise and instead of watching the game they were on a forum moaning about it... I mean, really?!
In short, stick your vuvuzelas where the sun don't shine and just be glad that there was an extra fortnight of footy on this summer. It has certainly kept me entertained in the evenings after work, and here's to a good, noisy, packed WC2010!
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#12 Exactly.
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4 & 5 - I'm not an expert, but perhaps the pitches were not so great because it's winter in South Africa now. If that's the reason, I would imagine the pitches to be more or less the same at next year's World Cup.
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Loved the VUVUZELAS
Shame that next year it will be back to boring old ENGERRLAN-ENGERRLAN...
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Did someone in FIFA or the South African FA 'kindly ask' you to not mention the state of the pitches in your blog? It was the stand out issue watching on TV and I (and it seems I am not alone) cannot believe you did not bring it up once.
Other than this, looked a good tournament
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I do realise that the vuvuzelas are pretty noisy on the tele... but they add a fantastic atmosphere if you are in the stands. Its part of our football culture and it would be a shame to take that away.
Oddly enough, I also found the pitches to be below par. Our cricket and rugby stadiums have superb groundsmen, so I'm quite positive that this will sorted out without any fuss.
That just leave us with a transport issue and its a tough one, politically, to implement correctly.
Thanks for the great article.
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Your comments about the USA were a bit unfair. If it was a team like Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Mexico, Ireland, etc..., nobody give a hoot, but the USA are proven to be better than all these teams and seem to just attract patronising comments due to unfair prejudice from football snobs.
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england have a good chance as the cold weather at the world cup next year will suit them more than it will with brazil and spain, who i think are their main rivals. they are used to the heat and will find it harder based on their displays, but then again you never know and they might not be that bothered about this cup.
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* "I don't know of any other stadium in the world that is going to have this history," said Englishman Moody. "Who else has got Nelson Mandela?"
No other stadium with that kind of history? Really? Seems to conveniently ignore the fact that the last World Cup stadium witnessed the legendary Jesse Owens Olympic performance - and a certain Adolf Hitler was there. I'd think that would a historical figure on par with Mandela as far as fame (or infamy) goes.....
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Re #9 - your assumption that Spain weren't bothered about the tournament is way off the mark
1. They played their best team in both the semi-final and the 3rd place game
2. They were going for a Word Record number of consecutive wins
3. They were unbeaten for over 2 years
4. You can only win 3 things at senior international level (accepted this is the lesser of the 3)
All of these plus their natural pride (which the English dont have a monopoly on) mean they would have wanted to win. Just accept that the USA beat them fair and square, it was a cup tie the result doesnt mean the USA are a better team overall but they were on the day as they won 2-0.
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Over all a great tournament, and great to see that the country got behind Bafana, even took MJ's death off of the front pages which is great.
Just a few things on security. Yes we have an issue here, but living here for five years I've had fewer issues than when I lived in the UK, use common sense and you'll be fine, really you will and the points raised here today are hightlighted because quite often people get used to talking about SA's crime problem.
We have held the lions and confed cup at the same time and both have been great and like it was mentioned earlier the lions supporters have been amazing and great ambassadors for UK supporters. However talk to many South Africans who have followed world cups in the past and you will hear of worry of the England supporters doing to Camps Bay and Durban what they did in areas of France during the French world cup when they pretty much made them no go areas and trashed them by rioting and drinking way too much. Its sad to say that many living in these areas actually hope that England fail to qualify because of this and many are going overseas while the WC is on, also because of worry about the England supporters and their apparent lack of good behaviour and respect for others. This is sad especially after the Lions supporters have been so great!! So please guys yes highlight the crime issue in SA, but also realise that we really are worried about a minority element of England supporters who tend to lurk among the genuine supporters who of course will be welcomed with open arms.
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@ 23 spot on
@ 22, for starters the world cup will be played at a slightly different date. secondly and most importantly most spanish and brazilian, argentinian etc players play in europe and are jsut as used to the 'cold' weather as the brits. in fact the weather will be more like in south europe than england i believe (correct me if wrong). plus how many of those spanish players play in england for instance? only the brits dont really travel, and perhpas the weather affects them more than others?
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Hey All
Find this blog strange, in the sense of somoene thats from South - Africa, I even went to all the matches that South Africa took part in !!!
Im from Cape Town & flew up to JHB/Gauteng to go & watch the Match ups !!
The Air - Lines were ready for anything.5 Star (I use the airlines about 80 times a year and theyre never that good )
Had no problem what so ever with transport or traffic, football was great and with Mandela's blessing nothing could go wrong..TRUST ME.. VIVA NELSON MANDELA VIVA
anything that man touches turns to GOLD
LOVE THE VUVUZELA'S, especially if they unsettle the opposing teams and gives South Africa an unfair advantage.. JUST WHAT WE NEED !!!
As far as the pitches is concerned hopefully we'll work on that one, SORRY REST OF WORLD, but you should take into account that we use thicker pitches for Rugby.
And the confed cup was all played in Rugby Stadiums
Loved the Football
Liked the Players
And looking forward to 2010
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@27
U ABSOLUTLY CORRECT
OUR WINTERS IS COLD BUT NOT HALF AS COLD AS THE WINTERS IN ENGLAND
Temp will never go below 5 degrees and it never snows in South Africa
Are winter can easily be compared with England Summer !!!!
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I hate the vuvuzelas. They give me a headache. If allowed during the world cup I'll have to limit how much I watch. I respect other cultures, but the world cup is not just an African affair. There should be some compromise since the cup only comes along every 4 years.
Mexican fans love to play the horn too. I've been to live matches. Some guy is blowing the thing in your ear for 90 plus minutes. Good luck finding a different seat. It's annoying to the extreme. I'll never attend a game where they allow them.
As far as the USA upsetting Spain and nearly defeating Brazil. You see the same thing in international basketball. The USA team made up of better athletes and superior talent have been upset a number of occasions by national teams of lessor talent but that play together often. The USA was a team of players rather than a collection of talent. Brazil are typically slow starters then gel later in the tournament. The USA fought hard but were outclassed in the end. I don't know how anyone can disrespect that. But some manage...while simulaneously spouting politically correct tripe about respect...hypocrites!
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In terms of facilities most stadia are probably better than Germany including the media facilities. Transport as I've said above remains a long term project but plans for 2010 which includes extensive consultation with previous host cities will be a great stepping to stone to future improvements.
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I agree the U.S.A technically were not as good as Brazil Spain etc, but how boring were brazil to watch, very little flair until the 2nd half against the U.S even then it was mainly due to the fact that the U.S were tired.
I think the U.S will do ok next year...I really don't think the English should fear anyone.
The vuvuzelas were great added an extra buzz to the games, mixed with normal chanting next years games should be good to watch...i know its Africa but I really hope the pitches are better as the world cup deserves the best pitches.
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Nice topic....
However don't under estimate other selections like you did with the USA team, every hardworking team that plays as 'a team' deserve the maximum results....that is football hey!
As for the 'Vuvuzelas', do they cause such terrible noise as stated by others? Soccer even in europe is also noisey and more holiganistic unlike in Africa were people celebrate every match with a lot of passion.
Unlike other scenes we see on tv such as; smoky stadiums because of teargars, missels etc, we didn't see this in RSA.
As for the security concern, I do agree, and this concern everyone and every nation should contribute towards security....there are so many thugs in RSA who care less for human life but criminals are over the world putting contries like Brazil on the map too, but if I am not wrong I had the next World cup will be satged in Brazil..... I rest my pen for the mean time!
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"As USA getting to the final suggests, it could be unwise to base your World Cup predictions on the Confederations Cup"
Pretty unfair, the US played very well throughout and showed to have a lot of very exciting young players, particularly Altidore, Onyewu, Bradley and Charlie Davies. Not to mention Landon Donovan who was sublime throughout, still hard to believe he's only 27 seems like he's been around forever!
I think they're comparable to Russia from the last Euro's in the sense that they're bringing through a lot of young exciting talent at the same time.
Sure the US aren't going to win the World Cup but to underrate them like that would be silly, I'd certainly give them a good chance against a middle of the road team like Sweden, England, Croatia etc and if the draw goes the right way they could easily make the Quarter Final.
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The vuvuzelas did not particularly bother me after the first game or so. On the other hand, my dog hated the entire tournament, and my wife has already said she'll be out of the house for the entire World Cup if they're not banned.
I'm sure the atmosphere in the stadium is lovely, but they are a bit of an awful noise on the television.
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"Anyone who moans about it needs to lighten up - especially people who moan about it on the TV coverage - turn the volume down then! I actually read last week someone moaning about the fact that they had to turn their TV off because of the noise and instead of watching the game they were on a forum moaning about it... I mean, really?!"
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Turn the volume down? Watch football with little or no sound?
I'm a yank and live the USA, so I often have to listen to USA commentators call games. I've tried turning off the sound, lowering it, and it's not football. I've resorted to watching world cup matches on Latin American TV and muting the sound for "goooooooooooollll gu gu gu gu ggoooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll gol gol gol gol goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool"
I've lived in Hispanic, Chinese, and African-American cultures. I enjoy and respect culture as much or more as anyone, however I don't enjoy sitting in traffic, not moving, impatient horns blowing. I don't wish to superimpose that experience on my football. I actually enjoy the crowd. The excitement they generate. I don't wish to have it drowned out cause I want to pretend I'm ethnically diverse. It's just noise. It adds nothing. It takes away. It's a constant level of noise that drowns out everything else.
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Big ups to the South African public and Bafana Bafana!
Its quite interesting to hear an outstanding insight from an outsider's perspective. The FCC tournament served as a good test for all of us. I agree that we need to work on our transport going forward and address the crime issue.
Luckily, we have a great plan to deal with all these issues for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. One word of reminder is that crime is universal and should not be raised as SA's monopoly. Apart from other flurry of incidents that befell some prominent people in Europe and such places, I had a rare honour of my cellphone being stolen in Switzerland during the Euro 2008. Angry as I was, I didn't think that this should put a damper on my overall experience. On the issue of every 1 man out of 4 being a rapist, its sensationalism at its best. Going on statistics alone can be deceiving. I have about 20 friends and according to the stats, at least 5 of these morally high-standing guys are rapists or to bring it closer to my home, I have 4 brothers and therefore it means 1 of them is a rapist. Thats nonsense!
I see some people are quick to paint everything with the same brush. We had 4 pitches during the tournament and only 1 pitch was problematic, i.e. Johannesburg (Ellis Park), whereas the rest were excellent. Yes, its winter in South Africa but we reseeded all venues with rye grass to ensure that all the pitches look green and lush. Our normal grass for our pitches is kikuyi grass but it fades during winter and hence there was a need for reseeding. The general condition of the pitches were adversely affected by the rugby that was played on them just prior to the FCC tournament but 3 of the 4 were rehabilitate in time for the tournament.
As for vuvuzelas, these are here to stay. I had an opportunity of attending a football match 2 months ago in London between Italy and Brazil and to say the mood was lukewarm, would be an understatement. Fast-forward to the 21st June 2009 featuring the same teams at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Tshwane/Pretoria, with vuvuzelas and all, was like chalk and cheese. The outcome of the match was not different but the atmosphere was electrifying.
Big ups to the SA crowds that came to the stadia. We have proved that FIFA's trust in us was not misplaced. The FIFA World Cup in 2010 will be more successful!
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#26 its not just the english who riot. However that is the difference between football and rugby. At the lions 2nd test at the weekend it was amazing to see the red and green all mixed up in the stands, that would never happen in football people just start fighting. wish it wouldn't happen but it does.
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From a TV watching perspective, the continual din created by the trumpets was just intolerable. Like a swarm of bees coming out of the flatscreen. Couldn't stand the noise pollution for one game let alone the whole tournament. Let's hope Sepp watches some of it back and he'll see that this could turn off the watching public unless something is done.
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If you think USA have no chance in the World Cup, I say to you: The best team in the European Championship in 2004 was Greece.
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Even as a south African, I cannot stand the sound of the vuvuzela, but we cannot forget that it is part of African culture and is ever present at football matches in SA. What is the point in having the world cup in different continents if you are going to complain about cultural differences.
At least this way south Africa might have a little home ground advantage!
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I generally agree that crime and transport are the biggest concerns to SA hosting a successful WC. Just to clear things up. SA has a crime problem no doubting that, but what the media both in SA and international never truly report is the fact that the vast majority of crimes are committed in townships. In Cape Town mainly the cape flats. Research has shown that people are far less likely to be victims of crime in the suburbs, although the perception still exist amongst the surburban residents that they are more likely to mugged, burgled, robbed, murdered etc.
On the transport issue. We in SA should really work on this, however, the "Rapid Bus Transport System' phase 1 will be implemented in 2010 and all phases should be completed by 2018.
I have to admit the pitch at Ellis Park was horrible. I think this was mainly due to the super 14 rugby season and should have been closed to rugby at least a month before the confed cup. You really can't have rugby games on a pitch a week before the start of an international football competition.
Sorry for the Rant
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41. At 3:35pm on 29 Jun 2009, beans183 wrote:
Even as a south African, I cannot stand the sound of the vuvuzela, but we cannot forget that it is part of African culture and is ever present at football matches in SA. What is the point in having the world cup in different continents if you are going to complain about cultural differences.
At least this way south Africa might have a little home ground advantage!
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In the USA we have a lot or artificial pitches. It's part of our culture. But during the world cup held here FIFA said no artificial turf.
We artificial Americans somehow managed to enjoy the tournament dispite this lack of respect for our culture.
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Someone puts Mandela and Hitler in the same sentence,another says his dog didn't enjoy the tournament,and the guy writing this blog wants to write off the performance of the US on an assumption that this tournament was held at the end of a Season,and thus everyone except the Americans were tired.People in the West really need to stop listening to Stereotyping of what Africa is.First off,there are 52 different countries.One says we expect better pitches for the world cup,but then again,this is Africa.That statement is patently condenscending.The West owes a lot of its development to resources plundered from around the world,so before you get on your high horse,stop and think.Wasn't China rubbished mercillesly before the Olympics with some even advocating a boycott?And what did we get?A spectacular show.I'm tired of people going on about Vuvuzelas.It wouldn't matter if they were driving people nuts,all fans have a right to express themselves.Its not for people in the West to prescribe drunken English singing.
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"As USA getting to the final suggests, it could be unwise to base your World Cup predictions on the Confederations Cup."
Simon's right, beating the best team in the world and snapping the longest winning streak in international football history -- which also involves victory over England -- and then almost doing a number on Brazil doesn't stand for anything. Perhaps they'll go back to being mediocre but I can't see how one could say that after what they did the past few days.
Terrible way to start an otherwise decent column.
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We all want the best tournament that South Africa can host,but we really have to be on the level about unsolicited and demeaning advice being given.First off,the world is undergoing a recession thanks to activities in the West.Will that have an effect on preparations for WC 2010.It very likely will.So lets cut the South Africans some slack.A lot of people seem largely insulted by the Vuvuzelas,but who do they harm really?Some of the language and violence witnessed across Europe from Barcelona to Italy including stabbings is something that sometimes seems standard fare where the game is concerned in Europe.Like the torrents of abuse sent down on players and match officials.And what about the racist chants?That fellow saying he doesn't like sitting in Traffic.... its just noise.As an expression of footballing culture,I would pick the Vuvuzelas over a lot else that will be brought in by the rest of the world to WC2010.You really don't have a leg to stand on,let the Vuvuzelas be.Or give the WC2010 a miss.
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One of the contributors to this blog said that the fact that the US was not allowed to present artificial turf for use in WC1994 was tantamount to an infringement on their footballing culture,so banishment of Vuvuzelas can be seen in the same light.One of the chief driving reasons behind the decisions FIFA makes about football policy is its applicability across all the diverse places that football is played.As much as possible,keep a level playing field.That is why technology is such a testy issue since there will of course be levels of the game where funding will almost never be enough for some of these policies to be applied evenly.And thus the artificial turf.It might be standard fare in the US,but not the rest of the world,for economic not cultural reasons.You cannot replicate atmosphere,or what fans understand to be atmosphere.But you can at least ensure that other things are held constant to make sure that football remains a global sport where everyone has a fairly equal chance of success.
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Forget potentially soaring crime rates, acclimatisation, the question marks over infrastructure yaddah yaddah...
... the biggest potential problem facing 2010 is the bleedin' vulvayella or whatever that annoying horn is called. I don't care if it is part of South African culture - it's a complete racket. If the World Cup was hosted in Scotland I'm pretty sure I wouldn't expect to have fans blowin' bagpipes and baring their backends throughout the 90 mins (well... maybe the latter. Noted). And at least that would be a tuneful racket!
Those who don't agree that it sounds like the anal workings of a herd of constipated elderly horses are obviously fortunate enough to have dropped their hearing-aid in the bath.
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The plastic trumpets should be banned. They add nothing to atmosphere other than a constant,irritating and intrusive racket that detracts from the enjoyment. It's not as if they are musical or rythmic in any way. But with football being essentially black African,it's not PC to say such a thing is it? We must accept this irritation as part of an enriching cultural experience.I too turned the volume of my TV down.
And no article about SA , even about the world cup, can escape without some reference to Nelson Mandella. Zzzzz. Snorrr.
If SA are to be awarded the world cup then it should provide the same high standards expected and demanded, in all respects, as that of any other nation. Particularly the playing service for all matches.The playing service for the final was a disgrace.
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#43 - are you for real?!? Artificial pitches are not part of American culture! You've just got those because you're too tight to pay maintenance costs for proper pitches. American culture is things like the Blues scene in New Orleans, that sort of thing. The vuvuzelas ARE from African culture and folklore, and we are in no position to critisize that. If we're banning African culture, why don't we just have the tournament in Germany. Oh wait, we can't do that because some people don't like bratwurst. Why don't we have it in France? Oh wait, we can't do that because some people don't like snails. Why don't we have it in Spain? Oh wait, we can't do that because some people don't like Paella. Come on people! Get over yourselves and grow up! I for one like the vuvuzelas as they give a unique atmosphere to matches. Much better than listening to songs slating the Hillsborough dead, or the pathetic religious chanting in the Old Firm games.
Some people like the vuvuzelas, some people don't. Big deal. Get over it! When has everyone all liked the same thing? the vuvuzelas aren't hurting you, so just deal with it like an adult. They're no different to when there used to be 10's of thousands of rattles at games, or these days when you've got flares going off and toilet rolls being hurled onto the pitch. Each country has it's own way of doing things. Some are better than others admittedly, but no one has any right to demand for them to be banned.
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Thanks for your comments everyone - really thoughtful and interesting.
Responses to a few things you were saying:
* Maybe I was a bit glib about the USA. I went for (what I thought) was a neat headline, rather than being 100% fair. I can't say USA won't get to the final, although I would be surprised. They were certainly impressive in the Confed Cup - well organised, disciplined and hard working. And you can't argue with a win over Spain and near-victory against Brazil.
But World Cup finals are almost always contested by two of the major nations.
* #2 PulpGrape...you're right, awful things happen in every country. I was just particularly shocked by this particular story. I'll try and find the link to it. I had never heard anything like it before...
* A couple of people mentioned the pitches. Good point. I was going to mention this but left it out for the sake of brevity. Ellis Park was dreadful...sandy and bumpy, due to the amount of rugby that's been played there. The organisers insist the pitches will be fine for the World Cup though...they can't afford for them not to be I suppose
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I heard that a lot of the teams had their hotel rooms broken into and items stolen. I don't think security will be up to supervising such large crowds as at the world cup.... but we'll see.
I enjoyed the games and thought S.A and U.S.A where unlucky and deserved to win their games. Spain and Brazil did not play well and are lucky to finish 3rd and 1st.
Looking forward to the world cup, although I wouldn't want to have a ticket to be there. Shame really, but safety has to come first.
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P.S - those trumpets should be banned. Like others on here - I turned down the sound on my TV. It just gives you a headache!! I hope the BBC can filter out the noise when the broadcast the games. I'd rather listen to Alan Hansen than that!
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#50 Good point, but lets keep the trumpets out! lol
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it was surprising to see the usa do so well. i certainly did not think it would happen that quickly- not until the majority of usa's top players are important stars in their respective european teams playing ch lge/eufa cup against the best players in the world week in and week out. not taking away from usa's progress b/c it has been good. but it was the type of performance in soccer you see quite frequently where an inferior team can win if they execute just about perfectly as the usa did in the first half of that game. what was quite telling though was also the reactions of the brazilians- they did show how important the tournament was to them, tears illuminating their emotion, and they did realize they were pushed quite hard by usa so of course there should be a little bit more respect now...but in terms of problems the fields must be addressed b/c the world cup will go down as the pitch nightmare of world cups if ANY of the fields are the same as they were for confed cup. the pitch looked a nightmare on the hd tv yesterday...
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Still way to much to do !
I personally think , the country is not ready.
Too much crime and the transport to and from the stadia will not be ready.
And those terrible vuvesla omg it made the watching of the Confed cup so tedious, and I love football.
A great country , with way too many problems
Well done to the USA and to RSA for getting so far !
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The fact that South Africa is in the southern hemisphere will be a great advantage to teams like England and Holland next year. Most people are still geographically ignorant and don't understand that it will be winter in the southern hemisphere during the next World Cup, so they assume that as the games will be played in Africa the heat will be unbearable.
That doesn't mean it'll be freezing by our standards, far from it. But it does mean it won't be in the 90s or 100s. The worst possibility is torrential downpours in the tropical regions, which the northern nations should shrug off quite comfortably. Warm rain? Lovely.
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"As USA getting to the final suggests, it could be unwise to base your World Cup predictions on the Confederations Cup."
Perhaps your point here might have some truth...it's UNWISE base your predictions in this cup, but it's also unwise to start predicting who will win the WC today.
All over this forum I only hear that only two teams are equipped for that, SPAIN AND ENGLAND.....why?? what?? There is a slight tone of bitterness to the beginning of your post. England could only wish they could reach a cup final (any!), so they resort to criticize teams that do reach it. When was the last time England won something? Half century ago? As for Spain, well they just proved they're not as good as Zidane's France. Is still too early to call them a THE European Superpower.
I'm surprised by the lack of respect you Brits have for Brazil. This is a team if it fields it second string squad will still be favorites, and possibly win the thing. How many times have we seen a Brazilian squad with some many unknown players hit the headlines?? England and Spain need a perfect alignment of all elements to reach the level of the likes of Brazil, Germany, Italy and Argentina.
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Who are all these people moaning about the trumpet/vuvuzela sounds at the games?
When you walk down the street, how do you put up with the sound of heavy traffic? When airplanes fly overhead, do you put your hands over your ears and moan about it to anyone who will listen for the next hour?
Are you writing to your MPs calling for cars and aeroplanes to be banned?
No I don't think so, so why are you getting so prissy and uptight about these instruments at football matches? If it's a problem turn down your television sets so you can still hear the commentary.
I remember watching games played in the old Soviet Union and eastern bloc countries back in the 1980s, and the hooters they used then were very similar, plus the quality of commentary in those days wasn't always the best. I bet you lot complaining of the vuvezela would have had mental breakdowns if you'd actually been interested in football back in those days.
Personally, these trumpets don't bother me - it's all part of the different atmospheres and sounds of football played in different locations. By the way, it's not a racial or a cultural thind so stop pretending it is and being so pathetically crass. It's about wanting to experience football in a proper carnival atmosphere with, yes, 'noise' - personally I don't want to have my football-watching experience seemingly taking place in a library.
Games take place in stadiums, in different cities, in different countries around the world.
Get over the vuvezela, and stop whining like spoilt brats. In fact, get out of your comfy armchairs and go to games or places such as festivals where this is plenty of 'noise', where you can experience atmosphere and maybe feel like you're alive again.
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The thing about USA is this: What Simon says is indisputable, but why is everybody always in such a hurry to say it about USA and not comparable sides?
The USA is in the second tier of world soccer--not the first but not the third or fourth either. US chances of winning a World Cup are slim to none. But the same can be said of Portugal, Greece, Mexico et al.--any team that's competitive but is not Brazil, Argentina, or one of the half-dozen European teams that are legitimate World Cup contenders.
But it often seems that commentators undervalue the USA as compared with those other second-tier teams. I often wonder whether it's because, consciously or not, they are counting the relative lack of interest in soccer in the US against the team, or discounting the team's quality because it falls so short of US standing in basketball, track, etc.
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50. At 5:04pm on 29 Jun 2009, snowJacuzzi007 wrote:
#43 - are you for real?!? Artificial pitches are not part of American culture! You've just got those because you're too tight to pay maintenance costs for proper pitches. American culture is things like the Blues scene in New Orleans, that sort of thing
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Some people like the vuvuzelas, some people don't. Big deal. Get over it! When has everyone all liked the same thing? the vuvuzelas aren't hurting you, so just deal with it like an adult.
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How are you an authority on American culture? Artificial turf is American as apple pie and McDonalds. The Blues scene is NO is a sub culture in America. It's not surprising a snob defending vuvuzelas would latch onto Blues since your aim is to prove your PC credentials "I love myself cause I'm so hip."
Also you state the vuvuzelas are not hurting me...I clearly stated they give me a headache...
47 "But you can at least ensure that other things are held constant to make sure that football remains a global sport where everyone has a fairly equal chance of success."
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You can not ensure other things are held constant. It is no coincidence that a European team has never won outside Europe, and that south American teams have little success in Europe. The environment is a key factor -- weather, pitch conditions, altitude, etc. The English game with its hard tackles and long balls in the air a product of the wet grass conditions. South America's hard and imperfect surfaces lend themselves to short and tight passing. When you export a style into an evironment not favorable to the conditions they you rarely get success. SA might enjoy the advantage of certain pitch conditions...same as the U.S. players would an artifical pitch...what's the difference if its lack of money or excess that caused the difference?
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'The eight-team tournament won by Brazil was played in just four cities and more than 95% of the crowds were South African.
Next summer will be very different, with 500,000 foreign fans expected to descend on South Africa to watch 32 teams in 10 venues across the entire nation.'
Does this suggest that we wont suffer (as much) from the buzzing bee like vuvuzela noise?
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aye I think those who were irritated by the vuvuzela will probably have less of a problem next year due to larger crowds from other footballing nations. I understand what people say, the vuvuzela is the way south africans create their atmosphere, so we should not stop them playing them. Just hopefully the pub atmosphere and beer will keep it from my ears next year :P hehe
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FIFA 2010 World Cup Championship in South Africa could turn out to be the best organized event in the history of Jogo Bonito. The South Africans are supremely capable and confident of showing to the world their organizing capacities and capabilities. Best wishes to them as they march ahead in confidence to instil faith and hope in one and all.
Dr. Cajetan Coelho
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a) Anyone who has read Simon Carlin's "Playing the Enemy" about Mandela and the 1994 World Rugby Cup, may wonder, as I do, whether White South Africans will repay the compliment and watch the 2010 World Soccer Cup (as black South Africans did the Rugby world cup, much as it was against their culture and 'grain'). Going on Simon Austin's blog, the answer is a cautious 'yes'.
b). Attendances. How does FIFA set seat prices? Supporters and players alike prefer full stadiums, so shouldnt the primary objective of the organisers be to fill the stadiums. Not easy, but I am sure there are methods to calculate what ticket price will fill most of a stadium. The cost of NZ versus Iraq should be set to sell most of the seats, and should obviously be considerably different to some of the others
c). Quality of playing surfaces. The venues used were established venues for rugby and (SA premier league standard) soccer. I agree with other comments that pitch condition will most likely be a non-issue at the real thing.
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I'm Nigerian. Please refrain from summarizing the annoying noise of the vuvuleza or whatever the hell you call it, as African. Please refrain from calling African or Brazilian football noisy. That noisy horn has no musical rhythm to it whatsoever. I couldn't help but feel, whilst watching and listening to those fans blow it, that they were just a bunch of barbaric morons. It's annoying. I wouldn't blow my car horn outside of your residence for hours and tell you to ignore it. That ain't music! The African drums akin to such countries as Nigeria, Ghana, and Brazil, are rhythmic in nature and don't deserve to be packed in the same boat as the most annoying instrument in the world, along with its equally irritating and annoying fans. I just thought I'd break it down for you, since BBC and some idiotic fans don't appear to have the capacity to figure out what the problem is. For my fellow blacks chanting racism, stop it. It's an annoying horn. If it's not fixed, I'm not watching that World Cup, like many other fans, and I'm serious as a heart attack. Be noisy, beat drums, dance, or whatever. Oohh and ahh, and initiate crwod noise. That's atmosphere. Not some damn horns.
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hello.i'd just like to do a little survey to see if anyone reads the last posts on these threads.
if you're reading this, comment below... with "Read it"
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I'm Nigerian. Please refrain from summarizing the annoying noise of the vuvuleza or whatever the hell you call it, as African. Please refrain from calling African or Brazilian football noisy. That noisy horn has no musical rhythm to it whatsoever. I couldn't help but feel, whilst watching and listening to those fans blow it, that they were just a bunch of barbaric morons. It's annoying. I wouldn't blow my car horn outside of your residence for hours and tell you to ignore it. That ain't music! The African drums akin to such countries as Nigeria, Ghana, and Brazil, are rhythmic in nature and don't deserve to be packed in the same boat as the most annoying instrument in the world, along with its equally irritating and annoying fans. I just thought I'd break it down for you, since BBC and some idiotic fans don't appear to have the capacity to figure out what the problem is. For my fellow blacks chanting racism, stop it. It's an annoying horn. If it's not fixed, I'm not watching that World Cup, like many other fans, and I'm serious as a heart attack. Be noisy, beat drums, dance, or whatever. Oohh and ahh, and initiate crwod noise. That's atmosphere. Not some damn horns.
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you're damn right. those bloody horns sound like a load of mosquitoes and leave no room for crowd chants or anything, just an annoying background hum. god knows what it's like to be amid 95,000 of them.
can you imagine the national anthems, drowned out by that constant hum?
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Didn't read it
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hi there.
i just wanted to ask what the music was that BBC used in the background of the Best Goals Of The Tournament?
i thought it was a great choice, and i'd love to hear more of it...
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I do hope those vuvuzelas are banned. It's disgraceful for the organizers to claim that they give an 'African atmosphere' to the games - in how many African countries other than South Africa are they used? One commentator proposed banning them for all games not involving South Africa, which seems a reasonable compromise. Besides, even in South Africa they only became popular in the 1990s. (I lived in Zimbabwe then and never heard of them.) Twenty years of history for a tuneless horn versus eighty years of history of a global tournament.... hmmm.
On an unrelated note, it's nice to see that the attitude of British journalists to the American football team continues. Keep up the condescension! If Canada beat Spain 2-0 in a friendly, let alone a FIFA tournament, would the British press treat it differently?
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Let's hope it all goes well, but I very much doubt it. It seems inevitable with the security situation how it is,that some people who go to watch the World Cup will never return. How many deaths are acceptable to Fifa I wonder? And if the World Cup is going to be farmed out to fringe countries for political purposes, shouldn't the hosts have to qualify like everyone else? After all, automatic qualification and automatic seeding is one hell of an advantage that doesn't seem to sit well with the idea of a fair and unbiased sport.I believe the WC should be awarded to countries where the stadia and infrastructure are already in place(which excludes England at the moment) to avoid costly white elephants that are simply not sustainable once the tournament is over. The WC and the Olympics were the greatest sporting shows on Earth, we've lost one to whore of commercialism and political demands, let's not lose the other.
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I don't mind the vuvuzelas if they are blown when something exciting happens. Sadly it sounds retarded blowing them continuously like a 4 year old. Don't these guys understand the game and when they should cheer?
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very strange!! next thing we'll be seeing a witch doctor brewing up something during the game!
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I think it's a unwise to underestimate any national football team. The USA performed well because they worked as a team and there is no reason why they can't do the same in the world cup. Everyone seems to have forgoten that they beat Portugal in the 2002 World cup. Make no mistake about it, there will be an upset in the world cup. Do you remember how Senegal humbled the world champions France in the 2002 World Cup? Ghana did the same thing by kicking Czech Republic out of the 2006 world cup.
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It's amazing how a British journalist has the arrogance to comment about crime in South Africa when you guys have your own problems with football hooligans. When you come to South Africa next year you should be more worried about the violence from English and Italian hooligans.
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@72 "It seems inevitable with the security situation how it is,that some people who go to watch the World Cup will never return. How many deaths are acceptable to Fifa I wonder?"
Wow what a statement. It is often beyond me how SA's negative perception has spiralled out of control in the international community. We have now been relegated to a bunch of thugs, murderers, rapist etc with very little focus on our achievements. As a historian I know very well the making of modern South Africa and the many problems facing this country. However, as a south african i cannot accept negative labels.
I do hope 2010 will be a huge success
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In any city in the world there are "no go" areas, where tourists are advised against venturing, so this in itself is not a fair comment.
However, crime in SA (in any country, but more so here) is a reality, that will never be erradicated. However, be aware of what is going o aroud you, stay away from the areas you are advised to, and you will be safe. Yes, there are car-jackings (we call them Hijackings) and housebreakings etc etc, but it is ot as if I drive around the city in fear. I simply stay away from areas I know to be dangerous - have no reason to go to them anyhow - and take simple precautions.
You mention the police lining the routes to the stadiums - this is just about the only visible policing you are likely to encounter.
Transport is a major problem. The taxi drivers rule the roads, as normal laws don't seem to apply to them. Unfortunately, with the majority of the citizenry reliant on these buffoons for any for of transport, they have the ability to virtually bring cities to a standstill - something they do on a fairly regular basis.
The taxi drivers have already delayd the implementation of the BRTS and this is likely to hapen again, with the system eventually being drastically revised to placate the taxi drivers. In addition, anybody will tell you that the idea of the taxi drivers actually obeying rules of the road, and not taking over the dedicated BRTS lanes for their own use, is nothing more than a dream.
The biggest challenge of visitors to the WC will be getting from hotels and other accommodations to the stadiums.
Going anywhere else should not be too much of an issue, as major hotels all have courtesy shuttles to places like the airport, major shopping venues, casinos etc. Anything further afield then visitors are likely to hire a car. Elsewhere in the city is covered by metered cabs. However, this is all expensive (but a lot less so when considering the exchange rate from Pound Sterling or Euro to SA Rands) and we do not have easy and reliable public transport, such as the Tube lines for example.
Due to the cost of WC tickets, and the fact that many wil have bee taken up by fans on-line, and by package deal providers, there will be far fewer SA fans at the WC matches, and definitely less vuvulelas.
However, we are proud of being the host for the WC, are confident that everyone will ejoy themselves, and know that it will do a lot to showcase our country.
Just bear in mind that we are a developing Nation, and judge us on that basis.
We look forward to welcoming any and all visitors who make the trip.
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One unfortunate thing is the way our labour unions and political affilliates (such as ANCYL, SACP etc) use any opportunity to hold the government and the organiers to ransom, threatening to disrupt any major event in the country unless everybody bows and scrapes to their demands.
The Confederations Cup is barely behind us and already the work on Soccer City, several other stadiums, and the Gautrain project has been halted by workers downing tools in a strike.
These situations will grow ever more common the closer the world cup date becomes, and is likely to include Telecoms workers and Public Broadcaster workers shortly before the big day.
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Regarding the vuvuzelas, we were talking to an American friend today, who has never seen football before but watched the final with her husband. She was complaining about the racket, and said that she wouldn't watch any more because of the noise. We explained to her that it was a specifically South Africa thing, you won't hear them at most matches. HOWEVER, what FIFA needs to remember is, a lot of people don't watch football regularly, but DO watch the World Cup. What a shame it would be if the worldwide viewing figures among occasional watchers fell dramatically because of the noise.
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I am not a new member! I thought this posting problem was fixed.
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Re post 24 - "your assumption that Spain weren't bothered about the tournament is way off the mark
1. They played their best team in both the semi-final and the 3rd place game"
I don't think so, for the 3rd place game anyway. Xavi, Puyol, Marchena and Sergio Ramos were all on the bench.
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80. At 3:11pm on 30 Jun 2009, Tess_sgs wrote:
Regarding the vuvuzelas, we were talking to an American friend today, who has never seen football before but watched the final with her husband. She was complaining about the racket, and said that she wouldn't watch any more because of the noise. We explained to her that it was a specifically South Africa thing, you won't hear them at most matches. HOWEVER, what FIFA needs to remember is, a lot of people don't watch football regularly, but DO watch the World Cup. What a shame it would be if the worldwide viewing figures among occasional watchers fell dramatically because of the noise.
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The Washington Post sports writer wrote a commentary suggesting "soccer" was unAmerican. The media in the USA typically only report on football when their is violence or rioting, so many Americans were surprised when the world up was hosted in the USA that every match did not end in riot. I'm serious. Americans go on and on about soccer being "boring" with its "lack of scoring." There exists a level of ignorance and hostility towards the game that is remarkable.
I was born and raised in the U.S. I fell in love with football when I was young child. I love the game.
I want to thank the Nigerian fellow who correctly demonstrated the ignorance of the PC police and their blind support of vuvuzelas. African atmosphere and culture my behind...it's noise.
Here in the U.S. who have PC types who need to celebrate everything African-American including the negative like thug culture. Pathetic.
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"Anyone who moans about it needs to lighten up - especially people who moan about it on the TV coverage - turn the volume down then! I actually read last week someone moaning about the fact that they had to turn their TV off because of the noise and instead of watching the game they were on a forum moaning about it... I mean, really?!"
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Turn the volume down? Watch football with little or no sound?
I'm a yank and live the USA, so I often have to listen to USA commentators call games. I've tried turning off the sound, lowering it, and it's not football. I've resorted to watching world cup matches on Latin American TV and muting the sound for "goooooooooooollll gu gu gu gu ggoooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll gol gol gol gol goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool"
I've lived in Hispanic, Chinese, and African-American cultures. I enjoy and respect culture as much or more as anyone, however I don't enjoy sitting in traffic, not moving, impatient horns blowing. I don't wish to superimpose that experience on my football. I actually enjoy the crowd. The excitement they generate. I don't wish to have it drowned out cause I want to pretend I'm ethnically diverse. It's just noise. It adds nothing. It takes away. It's a constant level of noise that drowns out everything else.
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Have a word with yourself - you turn the sound down when the S American commentators celebrate a goal!? One of the greatest sounds in football?! You wanna try listening to 90 minutes of Motty talking nonsense and chuckling to himself - a season of that and you find yourself reaching for the mute button without even thinking!
Can you seriously not watch the footy without the sound? When you're watching in a bar do you get everyone in there to 'shoosh'? If I'm watching a match with terrible commentary, I will stick some music on no problem, but that is a personal thing I guess - as long as I can SEE the footy, I'm happy as I can usually work out what is going on for myself...
You'd love it at the Arsenal - any exciting incident is met with a ripple of polite applause and if you listen really carefully, you might hear a "tally ho the Arse" from a hedge fund manager in a corporate box.
I don't like paying £45 for a seat, sitting next to fat people, while being charged nearly £5 for a pint. I wouldn't wish to superimpose that experience on my football, but thats the way it is in the UK I'm afraid, and noisy is what its like in SA.
I'm genuninely astounded at all the people saying that FIFA need to ban the vuvuzelas. Arrogant to the extreme and ridiculously petty.
Boo hiss...
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According to filed reports, Brazilian Team, Egyptian team, English Rugby fans and German fans have all filed reports of stolen money and personal belongings. Unfortunately, South Africa is not a safe country yet! You still cant walk in the streets after sunset! Parking lots for all stadiums are far from the stadium, which forces you to walk through scary areas. The Confederation cup is suppose to be a preview for the World Cup, so if South Africa CAN NOT protect and provide safety to only 7 teams that are visiting in this tournament, do you think they can provide it to all the teams and fans visiting next year? Come on FIFA, we know that the decision to award South Africa for the World Cup hosting is purely political, but we as fans dont have to pay the price with our lives! I think FIFAs next world cup slogan should be UN Fair Play
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Have a word with yourself - you turn the sound down when the S American commentators celebrate a goal!? One of the greatest sounds in football?!
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gooooooooooooooooooooooooooool is one of the greatest sounds in football?
I thought it amusing the first few times...now just annoying. I lived in Puerto Rico 10 years, so I speak Spanish and know the culture...however I still find it annoying enough to have the mute button ready.
I don't watch games at bars. I'm American, and I don't live in a big city with lots of expatriots. I'm not a big drinker anyway. I watch games at home. I have satellite TV and have to subsribe to various services to get games. My Chinese wife does not appreciate the vuvuzelas either.
Mexicans like to blow the horn too. I've been to matches. No matter where you seat someone blows the thing for 90 minutes inches from your ear. It has nothing to do with anything on the pitch. It's all about making noise. Like sitting on an airplane with some kid kicking the back of your seat and his baby brother crying the whole flight.
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The vuvuzelas should be banned from all matches not involving the South African national team. That would be a reasonable compromise.
If South African fans want to blow a horn incessantly and tunelessly for 90 minutes because it's allegedly their "culture", then that argument is rendered inapplicable if they insist on blowing them when for example France and Denmark play each other.
If England hosted a World Cup and English fans attended every game playing the theme from "The Italian Job" or "Dambusters" for 90 minutes straight, there would be outrage. So there's no reason why South African fans should be given special consideration.
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Well I've gotta admit I'm stunned by the overall annoyance re the vuvuzelas. Obviously people take their aural experience when watching the footy a lot more serious than I do. I appear to be in a minority who really didn't have a problem with them during the Confederations cup. So here's looking forward to a much quieter World Cup next year.
Great.....
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89. At 10:27am on 01 Jul 2009, lazerspewpewpew wrote:
Well I've gotta admit I'm stunned by the overall annoyance re the vuvuzelas. Obviously people take their aural experience when watching the footy a lot more serious than I do. I appear to be in a minority who really didn't have a problem with them during the Confederations cup. So here's looking forward to a much quieter World Cup next year.
Great.....
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I don't want quiet. I want to hear the crowd. For those who enjoy a constant level of noise that drowns out all other sounds purchase an inexpensive air horn, place it next to your ear during your footy, and celebrate the experience to the maximum.
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@61: "It is no coincidence that a European team has never won outside Europe, and that south American teams have little success in Europe. The environment is a key factor -- weather, pitch conditions, altitude, etc."
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Oh yes its pure coincidence that a European team has never won outside Europe and that south American teams have little success in Europe. Pure coincidence.
At the end of the day in football, as it is in other sports, the best team at a particular day tends to always win: USA vs Porto Rico in basketball or Senegal vs France in football. Brazil beating Italy in 1994 has more to with Italians been unlucky that day than the game being played in US. The factors you are talking about become significant only in extreme cases, which is not usually the case during world cup games. I mean you wouldnt tell that the weather, pitch conditions and altitude in SA were more favorable to Brazil and US than they were to the bafana bafanas, would you? Talent, preparation, attitude of players and some luck usually tend to cancel out any environmental factors you might think of (again, except in extreme cases).
It really annoys me when sport reporters try to create statistical analysis out of pure coincidence. It makes no sense.
@74: "very strange!! next thing we'll be seeing a witch doctor brewing up something during the game"
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better that than racist chants and signs all over the stadium dont you think.
I thought you didnt believe in witchcraft, why are you so worried about it.
@85: "According to filed reports, Brazilian Team, Egyptian team, English Rugby fans and German fans have all filed reports of stolen money and personal belongings. "
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According to filed reports someone was killed in Rome after the champions league final.
According to filed reports violence follows British fans at every world cup.
But I guess those are good, healthy and respectable crimes, right? If you think you will be going to private beach on a private island next year for the world cup than you better think again. Is the 2010 world cup going to be fun exciting? Yes. Is there going to be drinking and violence? Yes. Will that particular to SA? No.
My only wish is that we see as many open games and scoring chances as we saw during this Confed cup.
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91. At 9:06pm on 01 Jul 2009, footballistical wrote:
@61: "It is no coincidence that a European team has never won outside Europe, and that south American teams have little success in Europe. The environment is a key factor -- weather, pitch conditions, altitude, etc."
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Oh yes its pure coincidence that a European team has never won outside Europe and that south American teams have little success in Europe. Pure coincidence.
At the end of the day in football, as it is in other sports, the best team at a particular day tends to always win: USA vs Porto Rico in basketball or Senegal vs France in football. Brazil beating Italy in 1994 has more to with Italians been unlucky that day than the game being played in US. The factors you are talking about become significant only in extreme cases, which is not usually the case during world cup games. I mean you wouldnt tell that the weather, pitch conditions and altitude in SA were more favorable to Brazil and US than they were to the bafana bafanas, would you? Talent, preparation, attitude of players and some luck usually tend to cancel out any environmental factors you might think of (again, except in extreme cases).
It really annoys me when sport reporters try to create statistical analysis out of pure coincidence. It makes no sense.
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I agree the weather probably is not going to play a role in Basketball games. You want to think England are equally effective playing on a thick carpet of grass in the wet and cold as they are playing on hard surface in the heat then go right ahead.
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oi #26 dan-edwards, England are unbeaten in their group and for your information our fans are not trashers after all we basically created the modern world
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JUSTICE IS LIKE AIDS; SOME GET IT AND SOME DON'T! And that is the problem. South Africa's escalating crime - as in the rest of the world - is caused by a corrupt judiciary, self-serving 'politicians' and 'lawyers' who would be jailed if proper legislation - punishing criminals instead of rewarding them - was put in place.
The World can have a semi crime-free 2010 World Cup. But, South Africa got to get real tough on criminals and that includes locking up some of the 'officials' mismanaging their game and the using Football and the World Cup as their cash cow. And that is not going to happen. Pity.
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they really have to ban the vuvuzela - it makes watching the games on TV unbearable
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I for one am very much looking forward to the World Cup in South Africa.
YES - some of the stadia may not be up to European or Amercian standards.
YES - the transport and culture is vastly different.
YES - the crowd make a terrible din with the Vuvuzela.
But that's all good. It gives the event it's colour and originality. If we wanted it to be the same all the time then hod all World Cups at Webley, in virtual silence in front of a few fans and a few thousand more of the beloved Corporate "Prawn Sandwich" brigade.
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