US Game at the Fan Zone and England vs. Algeria

---

Today had to be the best day so far at the World Cup. I have to admit after a couple days in the house here in Camps Bay I was worried that we wouldn’t be doing as much sightseeing and exciting stuff, but rather just chilling in the house watching the games and going to the games that we had tickets for. But after today I am definitely super excited and can’t believe that I get to be at the World Cup. And this next week is undeniably going to be quite exhilarating.

I didn’t quite wake up for the 2am television of the NBA playoffs but woke up early enough (10am) to catch the last two quarters of the replayed broadcast in the morning. Can’t lie I was definitely excited seeing the Celtics leading in the 3rd quarter, which quickly turned to disappointment as the Lakers pulled in front to win the game. I did some morning searching for tickets and getting ready for the US game in the afternoon. We had decided to go to the Fan Zone in Cape Town near the Town Hall for the US vs. Slovenia game as soon as Winget arrived from the airport. When Winget came in I remembered that he had Category 1 tickets right at the center of the field for the Cameroon vs. Holland game and so I jumped in quickly to beat anyone to the punch to claim the tickets! What up sweet seats for the Cameroon/Holland Game.
After Winget got set-up we all headed out to the Fan Zone. The Fan Zone was pretty sweet with bars everywhere and people crowded in front of a giant stage and big screen TV. The Germany/Serbia game was currently on and all the Germany fans were expectedly upset. The weather was awesome! Hot summer sunny day, with the beer flowing, good soccer games, and hundreds of crazy soccer fanatics like me—Can’t get better than that! After the Germany game was finished we moved closer to the big screen up front and just enjoyed the sun and the music. We were put on the large screen as we danced all decked out in our US jerseys, US and California Flags and US paraphernalia.

The US game was ridiculous!!! The first half was disappointing as the US fell behind 2-0 against Slovenia. We were all devastated and very upset. However, the last 10 minutes of the first half held some close chances for the US and so there was at least some hope for a good showing in the second half. As we took our bathroom breaks I was a little upset at a fellow US supporter who came by and said “ya boys hope we get at least one in and make it a 2-1 loss”. Luda and I looked at him thinking “seriously!?” what is wrong with you we’re coming back to take this thing 3-2. And by God we should have been right! The second half was an amazing half as the US came back and scored 2 goals to tie up the game. The excitement and atmosphere was ridiculous as we all jumped madly hugging and screaming and cheering for the US as we brought the game to a 2-2 tie. Just minutes after the tie we scored our 3rd goal and we all erupted so elated and amazed at our AMAZING comeback and takeover when we were all slowly shhh’shd by fellow friends as we found out that the damn referee called a foul!! Absolutely horrid call! We were extremely upset and all cursing at the TV and the referee at that call. A friend even started the chant, “A rope, a tree, HANG THE REFEREE!!!” That was definitely the sentiment for all of the US supporters at the Fan Zone as Boos shook the very floor beneath our feet. The way that the US played in that second half they definitely deserved that 3rd goal and the win. I found out the next day that FIFA questioned the Malayan Referee who refereed the US/Slovenia game about the foul and he could not explain the foul he called and thus he was axed from refereeing for the World Cup. Clearly the world recognized that the US got ROYALLY SCREWED by the damn Ref.

A little disappointed but still glad that we had at least pulled a tie and are not out of the group we hung out a little longer at the Fan Zone with some more beers before heading to the stadium for the England/Algeria game. While we were chilling at the Fan Zone discussing the horrible refereeing we were approached by a couple guys with a TV backpack asking us if we’d like to play some trivia for a chance to win some MTN prizes. We played some of their trivia and a few others and I ended up winning a few yellow soccer hats. In all honesty after the trivia games the casino slot game always landed on 3 hats to yield a free yellow MTN soccer hat.

With a few beers under our belt, some free soccer hats, and after a day of watching an exciting US match we started our trek to the stadium for the night match. On the way as usual we pocketed a couple more beers, some cane, and grabbed some tasty chicken burgers and boerewurst sausages. I was also able to grab a South Africa vuvuzuela for myself which I proudly blew, bringing me back to my trombone playing days and ended up beer bonging out of it shortly after.

Today’s game felt even more amazing that last time, probably due to the fact that I hadn’t just gotten off of a 10 hour flight. The atmosphere, amazing like last time! It was very odd as all us United States fans were rooting for a 0-0 tie in the England/Algeria game to give the US the best opportunity to control our own fate in the next game. We were definitely hated by the English hooligans that surrounded us as the stood and cursed loud absurd phrases at the players and referee during the course of the game. As we had wished the game ended in a 0-0 draw and we were all more than happy chanting “nil nil,-- nil nil,-- nil nil nil nil nil nil, --nil nil, nil nil, --nil nil nil nil --nil nil nil—nil nil nil—nil nil nil-- U- S-A!!!” I think we were definitely louder and more annoying than the expected English supporters. We grabbed a bus back to Camps Bay, which almost took off from Camp’s Bay with half of us in and half of us out of the bus. The guy in the bus was still collecting money from some of our group members so not all of us made it out of the bus before the bus started moving. Luckily I was near the door as I was trying to get out of the bus and made a ruckus and attempted to open the doors, which made the bus driver stop and wait for the rest of the group. We finished the night with a very epic game of Party Mochen. Two more people joined us tonight at the house and they introductory night with Party Mochen was quite havoc as it left both of them drinking more than they expected. We ended the night at 3 am. The Best Day on my vacation so far! Great Weather, Great Company, Great Games = Amazing Day.

---

Comments

[megha]

I didn't know you were going to the US vs Slovenia game! It was exciting just hearing about...i can't imagine what it was like in person! btw, aren't they trying to ban the South African vuvuzuela?

[Dxt3r]

I didn't go to the US Slovenia game I watched it at the Fan Zone