The World

So much for the collapse of Europe and the unstoppable rise of the Latins. There were three Latin American-European clashes in the last quarters of the World Cup – and the Europeans won all of them. In my newspaper column last Tuesday, I argued that most efforts to impose some sort of theory about the rise and fall of nations on a mere football tournament were basically bullshit – and I feel vindicated by the collapse of the “collapse of Europe” theory.

I saw the two Joburg-based quarter finals live. Getting to matches in Johannesburg is a good deal less convenient than elsewhere. In Durban and Cape Town, the new stadiums are right on the beachfront and easy to walk to. Getting to Soccer City in Soweto involves complicated park-and-ride schemes. And Ellis Park, where Spain and Paraguay played last night, is in a ropey part of the centre of Johannesburg. I had met a couple of Chileans who complained of having to walk back from a game there, through darkened streets at past midnight. But I went to the match with Lungile Madywabe, a South African journalist, who was quite happy parking his (old) Mercedes in the neighbourhood. The surroundings of the stadium were pretty lively: short-time hotels, darkened night clubs with music blaring, some people gathered around briars and lots of stalls selling match memorabilia, including the dreaded vuvuzelas.

I have resisted opining on the vuvuzela, since everybody else has, and I didn’t want to seem a party pooper. But I was amused that Lungile was far more upset by them than I was. He sat through much of the game with his fingers in his ears. In fact, there is an instrument that is far more annoying than the vuvuzela. It is a little whistle, which emits a high-pitched screech like a baby’s cry. I had one behind me last night, and longed for somebody to start up with a vuvuzela to drown out the noise.

I have now watched five matches live  – so here are my informal awards. The best game that I saw was Spain v Portugal. The most dramatic game, without doubt, was Friday night’s heartbreaking defeat of Ghana by Uruguay. The nicest stadium that I saw was in Cape Town, though Durban ran it close. The best players were Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez.

Like most people following the World Cup, I was astonished to see the Argentinians collapse against the Germans. I got talking to some German supporters last night, who were engagingly modest about their team’s performance – but then I suppose they can afford to be. Has they seen Germany play live, I asked them. “No”, said one dolefully, “but we have seen Uruguay three times.”

I am now going home to watch the remainder of the tournament on television (and do some work). It has been fun. But I am sick of seeing grown men cry. Asamoah Gyan of Ghana was in floods, after missing that crucial penalty against Uruguay. Last night, it was Cardozo of Paraguay who missed a vital spot-kick and then left the field, blubbing. Really chaps – it’s only a game.