FIFA World Cup Match: Argentina vs Mexico (27 June 2010)

If someone now asks me what is my most memorable experience so far .. it got to be watching the match of a lifetime, the world cup in South Africa. One of the major reason why I went for South Africa for my summer holiday this year is to catch the world cup matches. Although I bought my match ticket one year ago, it didnt strike me that I was going to watch the world cup till the match day itself!! I even pinched myself to see whether I was dreaming!!:)

The match that we managed to ballot was the second round between the winner of group B and runner up of group A, which the whole time, we were rooting for an Argentinian match. We so wanted to catch Messi, Tevez and Maradona in action LIVE!!!

Soccer City at night


my ticket to entry


blowing the vuvuzela




Maradona




3 stooges

After our 7 day tour of the safari and Swaziland, we rented a car and drove all the way back to Joburg from Durban. I was extremely paranoid in the first place as we heard a lot of horror stories of car jacking with gun point in Joburg. But nevertheless, the whole experience in South Africa was amazing with friendly people. We stayed in Phumis Palace, one of the branch for Ball and Kicka. The most surprising thing was, almost all of the people we met in the hostel were going for the same match as us! We even made friends with two Hong Kong girls and a guy on the way to the match, which later on in Cape Town, we bump into the same gals! Talk about the small world!

We shared a dorm with a guy from the States and later on we bump into him again at the quaterfinal match in Cape Town. We took the shuttle to Ball and Kicka and then walked to the bus stop to catch the bus to the stadium. As it was winter, the weather was extremely cold.

The moment we reached Soccer City, we were speechless to see the view of the stadium from the bus. Soccer City was so beautifully lit at night and it can accomodate up to 90,000 fans at one time. Soccer City is situated at the township of Soweto, a place full of history and vibrant story. We visited Soweto on the first day we arrived in South Africa. Will blog about that later on. Now back to football match. It was only when I was in the stadium sitting down and watching the game, that I realised I was watching a WORLD CUP match (the world's largest and most beloved game) and not any other football match. The experience was simply too surreal!

And since we decided to be Argentinian fans for the day, Adri bought a Argentina flag while May bought a tee. I on the other hand got myself a vuvuzela, yes the sound made in the stadium was deafeaning but hey when you are in South Africa, blow a vuvuzela like one...

the leng cai Argentinians




the Mexican fans


trying to be funny..crashing into other people's photo


the world cup??




this fan trying to give us a Mexican face paint

the couple behind us


people mountain people sea

The kickoff started with the introduction of the team members on the big screen. I almost did not bring my camera along to the match fearing that someone might knicked it but glad finally decided against the idea. The atmosphere, the fans, the game, the stadium, the vuvuzela angry bees sound, the costume not forgetting, the final whistle blow and the final score 3-1 for Argentina made this a truly unforgettable experience for me and my two friends.

the march in






half time performance


Argentina winning