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The World Cup in South Africa

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I am a very proud South African tonight. I am watching what is purported to be the most widely televised concert ever, and it is truly awesome. The typical South African has always believed that imports are better than local, be it cars, TVs , music, sport. Tonight I feel liberated. Africans do not have to stand back for anyone. This is good stuff!!! I am proud.



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Just wait till we kick your asses! ;-)

ALLEZ LES BLEUS



Seriously, I hope your locals keep up with the celebration that has started! Looks like an awesome WC! :)



Les Blues??? Not tonight, Josephine!.

As proud as I am of what we are presenting to the world, my money is on Brazil. But don't tell anybody.:)



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Just wait till we kick your asses! ;-)

ALLEZ LES BLEUS



Seriously, I hope your locals keep up with the celebration that has started! Looks like an awesome WC! :)


:)

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

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Just wait till we kick your asses! ;-)

ALLEZ LES BLEUS



Seriously, I hope your locals keep up with the celebration that has started! Looks like an awesome WC! :)




Les Blues??? Not tonight, Josephine!.

As proud as I am of what we are presenting to the world, my money is on Brazil. But don't tell anybody.:)


BAFANA BAFANA!!!!!!!!!!!! B|
When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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Why do we not see anyone here denouncing and screaming about racism and boycotting these games like they do in Arizona because of racism?
I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

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Why do we not see anyone here denouncing and screaming about racism and boycotting these games like they do in Arizona because of racism?



Why do you insist on posting your normal racist drivel in a thread about one of the greatest sporting events in the world?



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He not only possess a superior intellect and wealth of information, he know's there are a bunch of... "Blecks". The downfall of any socity. I mean first the Mick's, then frog's, dayglows, chinks, hunkeys, pohm's next thing you know there are no real americans.

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With the "helping hand" of your man Henry maybe you can make it out of the group stages. :P

Good luck.


Absolutely!:)

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

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Seriously, I hope your locals keep up with the celebration that has started! Looks like an awesome WC! :)

do you mean that the whole "sport" is comparable to a giant porta-pottie ?
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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Just for the Turtle. :P

Dear World Cup visitors,

Now that you are safely in our country you are no doubt happily realising you are not in a war zone. This may be in stark contrast to what you have been bracing yourself for should you have listened to Uli Hoeness or are an avid reader of English tabloids, which as we all know are only good for wrapping fish ‘n chips and advancing the careers of large-chested teens on page three.

As you emerge blinking from your luxury hotel room into our big blue winter skies, you will surely realise you are far more likely to be killed by kindness than by a stray bullet. Remember that most of the media reports you have read, which have informed your views on South Africa, will have been penned by your colleagues. And you know what journos are like, what with their earnest two thousand word opuses on the op-ed pages designed to fix this country’s ills in a heartbeat. Based on exhaustive research over a three-day visit.

Funnily enough, we are well aware of the challenges we face as a nation and you will find that 95% of the population is singing from the same song-sheet in order to ensure we can live up to our own exacting expectations.

We are also here to look after you and show you a good time. Prepare to have your preconceived notions well and truly shattered.

For instance, you will find precious few rhinos loitering on street corners, we don’t know a guy in Cairo named Dave just because we live in Johannesburg, and our stadiums are magnificent, world-class works of art.

Which is obviously news to the Sky TV sports anchor who this week remarked that Soccer City looked ‘ a bit of a mess’. She didn’t realize the gaps in the calabash exterior are to allow in natural light and for illumination at night, and not the result of vandalism or negligence.

The fact that England, the nation which safely delivered Wembley Stadium two years past its due date, is prepared to offer us South Africans advice on stadium-readiness should not be surprising. The steadiest stream of World Cup misinformation has emanated from our mates the Brits over the past couple of years.

If it’s not man-eating snakes lurking in Rooney’s closet at the team’s (allegedly half-built) Royal Bafokeng training base, then it’s machete-wielding gangs roaming the suburbs in search of tattooed, overweight Dagenham dole-queuers to ransack and leave gurgling on the pavement.

In fact what you are entering is the world’s most fascinating country, in my opinion. I’m pretty sure you will find that it functions far more smoothly, is heaps more friendly and offers plenty more diversions than you could possibly have imagined.

In addition to which, the population actually acts like human beings, and not like they are being controlled by sinister forces from above which turns them into bureaucratically-manipulated robots.

Plus we have world’s most beautiful women. The best weather. Eight channels of SuperSport. Food and wine from the gods themselves. Wildlife galore. (Love the Dutch team’s bus slogan: “Don’t fear the Big 5; fear the Orange 11”).

Having said all that, Jo’burg is undoubtedly one of the world’s most dangerous cities. Just ask those Taiwanese tourists who got out of their hire car to take close-up snaps of tawny beasts at the Lion Park a few years back. Actually, ask what’s left of them. And did you know the chances of being felled by cardiac arrest from devouring a mountain of meat at one of our world class restaurants has been statistically proven to be 33.3% higher in Jozi than in any other major urban centre not built upon a significant waterway? It’s true. I swear. I read it in a British tabloid.

Having recently spent two years comfortably cocooned in small town America, I’m only too aware of how little much of the outside world knows about this country. The American channel I used to work for has a massive battalion of employees descending on World Cup country. It has also apparently issued a recommendation to its staff to stay in their hotels when not working.

Given that said corporation is headquartered in a small town which many say is “best viewed through the rear-view mirror”, I find the recommendation, if it’s true, to be utterly astounding. In fact I don’t believe it is true. Contrary to the global stereotype, the best Americans are some of the sharpest people in the world. The fact they have bought most tickets in this World Cup proves the point.

Of course I have only lived in Johannesburg, city of terror and dread, virtually all my life, so don’t have the in-depth knowledge of say, an English broadsheet journalist who has been in the country for the weekend, but nevertheless I will share some of my observations gleaned over the years.

Any foreign tourist or media representative who is worried about his safety in South Africa should have a word with the Lions rugby fans from last year, or the Barmy Army cricket supporters (lilywhite hecklers by day, slurring, lager-fuelled lobsters by night). They managed just fine, just like the hundreds of thousands of fans who have streamed into the country over the past fifteen years for various World Cups, Super 14 matches, TriNations tests and other international events. Negligible crime incidents involving said fans over said period of time.

Trivia question: which country has hosted the most global sporting events over the past decade and a half? You don’t need me to answer that, do you?

In addition. Don’t fret when you see a gaggle of freelance salesmen converge on your car at the traffic lights (or robots as we like to call them) festooned with products. You are not about to be hijacked. Here in Mzansi (nickname for SA) we do a lot of our purchasing at robots. Here you can stock up on flags, coat hangers, batteries, roses for the wife you forgot to kiss goodbye this morning and a whole host of useful merchandise.

Similarly, that guy who runs up as you park the rental car outside the pub intends no malice. He’s your car guard. Give him a buck or two and your vehicle will be safe while you refuel for hours on our cheap, splendid beer. Unless someone breaks into it, of course.

We drive on the left in this country. Exercise caution when crossing the road at a jog-trot with 15 kilograms of camera gear on your back. Exercise common sense full stop. Nothing more. Nothing less. If you want to leave wads of cash in your hotel room like our Colombian friends, don’t be surprised if it grows wings.

Bottomline. Get out there and breathe in great lusty lungfuls of this amazing nation. Tuck into our world-class food and wines. Disprove the adage that white men can’t dance at our throbbing, vibrant night-clubs. Learn to say hello in all eleven official languages. Watch at least one game in a township. You will not be robbed and shot. You will be welcomed like a lost family member and looked after as if you are royalty. Ask those Bulls rugby fans who journeyed to Soweto recently.

With a dollop of the right attitude, this country will change your life.

It’s Africa’s time. Vacate your hotel room. Join the party.

Waka waka eh eh



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Has anyone scored yet?

What? Still 0-0 after a few matches?
" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

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it didn't start yet :|

as much as I don't like Football Association, at least they play with 11 players, and can have up to IIRC 2 replacements. They don't need 2-3 teams playing depending on the duration /phase of the game...

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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it didn't start yet



Kick off to the opening match starts in about 15 minutes from now.

I still think ice hockey is the best team sport, but football (soccer) has many similarities and I enjoy watching the World Cup more than any other soccer league/tournament. I have decided to cheer for Spain (the Euro Champs) in this tournament, but I may need to jump on to some other bandwagon if Spain continues to wear their World Cup monkey on their backs.

Finally, hopefully the thugs will be kept under control this World Cup. It would be a shame for South Africa to wear a black eye for the bad behavior of a small minority.


Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

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So a letter to a gerenral public cancelled all racism and hypocricy there?:o

Sweet.:|

I don't believe it though.:|

here's a little snippet of the interview with Prof. Alfred Tokollo Moleah,
South African Ambassador to Vienna (2006)

And if you go into the suburbs of Johannesburg or Cape Town or
wherever, you find that they are still highly segregated and it is the
exceptional African who is living in those suburbs. It is people like myself
and a few others who have managed to overcome Apartheid through a
variety of means. In my particular case I went to school. Then I left South
Africa and went to more school and lived in America for quite some time.
I then went back to South Africa and was able to deal at the level at which I
am dealing. But for the ordinary African life is still very much segregated,
townships are still there and the white areas are still white areas.

Then again there is always this:

You could choke on the irony. The right to protest was one of the major victories after the overthrow of apartheid. The idea that these rights are now being suspended in the name of “showing South Africa…in a positive light” is reality writ by Orwell.

Where is the outrage and boycotts? Where is the UN stepping in to try to adjust and modify laws?

Where is all the rage that is usually pointed at the US?

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

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Goaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllll

South Africa 1 - Mexico 0 :o

still 35 minutes left in the game.



Sooooo close!

Still, taking Mexico (ranked 17) to a 1 all draw when we are ranked 83.... not bad!

Good start to the tournament.


Now I'm really looking forward to England vs USA tomorrow - should be a cracker.



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