Culp from South Africa: Monday’s World Cup Update

Monday, June 28, 2010

Matt Culp, GoLocalProv Sports Contributor

Friday was game day! Durban had a little extra excitement to it as the Brazilian and Portuguese fans were out in full force.

Stadium

After a non-eventful morning we headed down toward the beach and brand new stadium. Since arriving to Durban, we hadn’t seen the stadium yet, but when we did it was a spectacular site. It dwarfed everything around it and looked like some kind of spaceship.

One interesting thing I noticed before the game was the mixing of fans. I saw Brazilian fans holding the hands of Portuguese fans as well as groups happily mixing with the opposing fans. It was all about the celebration of football, however, the Brazilian fans definitely outnumbered the Portuguese. I thought the atmosphere was much more electric than the England/Algeria match. Much better costumes as well.

Girl Flag

Brazil vs Portugal Recap

The vuvuzelas were in full force this game as well as the constant drum beat of the Brazilian fans. Yellow and red were the colors that dominated the stadium, including the several yellow cards issued by the ref. As the game began Portugal had a few decent chances with all eyes on Cristiano Ronaldo but the Brazil defense was just too good. Brazil on the other hand had more chances to score in the first half even hitting the crossbar once but Portugal did not break. Was I going to see another 0-0 draw?

The second half was less exciting as both teams soon realized they would advance with a draw. Portugal sat back more and there were less scoring opportunities as a whole for both teams. I even heard some whistles (the form of booing for football outside the USA) toward the end of the game.

One thing I noticed was the play of Ronaldo. He played up top for Portugal and whenever he got the ball there was this sense of excitement throughout the stadium. However, when he didn’t get the ball he at times pouted and stomped his foot like he should have. Now I know he is one of the best footballers in the world, but that didn’t sit well with me. The nil to nil final didn’t sit well with me either. Two games and no goals.

Next I will be heading to the Netherlands/Slovakia game. Stay tuned as I keep you updated live from South Africa!

Other World Cup Recaps:

Netherlands easily advances as it downs Cameroon, ending the dreams of another African nation. The Dutch and their orange clad fans will face Slovakia in the round of 16.

Japan continues its surprising play by thrashing Denmark and will play another upstart Paraguay in the knock-out stage.

Brazil and Portugal advance out of the group of death as another African nation, Ivory Coast, is eliminated.

Spain looks like a number one team again as David Villa continues his quest for the Golden Boot (leading World Cup scorer).

Inside Stadium