Tag Archives: 2010

Around the world, Jogo Bonito

Mexico 2-0 France

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I should be sleeping because tomorrow I need to fly early, but there’s too much adrenaline in my system from the Mexico VS France match, so I might as well post some photos. We flew to Polokwane and back just for the game, and needless to say it was well worth it. Incredible atmosphere. Mexico played like a local team, barely any French fans could be seen. The game was great, of course. The result, even better.

Click read more to see some more pics. And stay tuned because I scheduled a very cool surprise photo to appear a few hours after this post.

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Around the world

Pilansberg safari

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Yestarday was one of our “no game” days, so we headed out to Pilansberg park for a safari. It’s about three hours away from Johannesburg.

In the safari, you just basically drive around yourself trying to spot animals. We got to see zebras, warthogs, one elephant, rhinoceros, etc. All the photos you see below were taken by us – it was truly beautiful. The rhinos were by far the coolest. They walked by us only a couple of meters away. They are some scary beasts, man.

To make things extra fun, I hit a pretty nasty pothole on the way back that blew our tire. Not until then was the adventure truly complete.

Around the world, Jogo Bonito

Brazil VS North Korea

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In our first night time game, we were able to do some touristy stuff: Newtown, the Apartheid museum, the SAB World of Beer museum. Then to Ellis Park for our last game in Johannesburg: Brazil VS N. Korea. It was a little bit like watching the Globetrotters. Fun to see. Sadly it was freezing cold, so the usual Brazilian eye candy was hidden under many layers of clothing. Maybe in 2014.

Around the world, Jogo Bonito

Those %$@# vuvuzelas

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One thing I cannot complain about in South Africa, is how the World Cup (unlike USA 94) is being lived and felt everywhere. No matter where you turn, people have flags and Bafana Bafana shirts. Also, vuvuzelas.

Nothing special about them: They are just plastic horns, just like the one that my dad bought me at the stadium during a Mexico 86 match. However, they are everywhere!

During the opening match, the whole South African crowd had their vuvuzela and they used it nonstop. It got really, really loud… a high pitched buzz constantly in the background. It prevented the players from hearing each other and get organized. We struggled in the stadium to get some Mexican cheers organized, with limited success, due to all the noise. You could see Chicharito tell one of his co-players that he can’t hear him.

And this is all good, after all, they are the hosts and this is their home team advantage. It’s a South Africa match.

But why are people bowing on this damn thing ALL THE TIME? Before the game, after the game, on the streets, inside restaurants. Everywhere. It’s really annoying. I’ve been really close to sticking a vuvuzela up somebody’s ass for three days now and it’s not likely to get better. You know it’s especially bad when you are the Holland vs Denmark match and you can’t hear a single chant, which takes away a lot of the World Cup experience.

Update 6/15: Yes, ear plugs are always in my pocket but so far I haven’t used them (except to sleep, but that’s a different story). Tonight during Brazil’s game, the kid next to me had a vuvuzela. I hid his vuvuzela when he went to the bathroom. Oh well…