Umzumbe

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Today we slept in and relaxed all day pretty much. We woke up to a beautiful day, but didn’t have the energy to take full advantage of the nice weather. We got ready and drove to Port Shapleton to do some grocery shopping. After we ate, we just relaxed, and eventually walked down to the beach to check it out.

When we got there, I found most of the guys from the hostel playing beach soccer. Just as I was getting ready to join them, they wrapped it up and headed back. That sucked, I was really looking forward to running around for a bit. Oh well...

We hung out at the beach for a bit watching the waves crash on the rocks. We took some pictures and headed back to the hostel to watch the rest of the Paraguay - Japan game. The game was pretty even, with each team getting chances here and there. Not surprisingly, it went into extra time, where nobody scored...penalties!!!!! This was the first time in this World Cup that a game went to penalties. This, of course, is only possible in the second round. The teams exchanged goals in the first few shots, but then a Japanese player hit the cross bar, allowing Paraguay to secure a place in the quarter-final a few shots later. This is the first time Paraguay advanced past the Round of 16.

In the late game, Spain played Portugal in Cape Town. We also watched this game at the hostel bar. I rarely enjoy watching two European teams play because they are always so scared of each other, so afraid of making a costly mistake. The first half seemed like that to me, so I wasn’t too excited about it. In the second half, David Villa scored for Spain, putting Portugal on the brink of elimination. Spain continued to control the game until the final whistle. Cristiano Ronaldo, in this game as well as the entire World Cup, was useless; he was never a threat to any team, not even against North Korea.

On one side of the bracket we have Argentina vs Germany and Spain vs Paraguay, and I have Argentina and Spain meeting in the semis. On the other side, we have Ghana vs Uruguay and Brazil vs Holland. As you can see, half of them are from South America...pretty impressive. Four of the five South American teams made it to the final 8, while only 3 of the 15 or so European teams made it. We are hoping for a Brazil win against Holland, but that will be tough. As for the other match-up, I can go with either Uruguay or Ghana.

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Comments

[Chelsea]

This looks like the nicest hostel you have stayed at so far! Sounds like you are having a great time!!!