You know when you have a really amazing dream and then you wake up from it, to the real world, to the fact that you have to get up and go to work... But the dream was so nice that it makes your whole day easier to take on, you still go to work with a smile...
Well that is how i felt when our boys beat the French, even though it wasn’t enough to take them to the next round. The dream is over, but I am still glad i had it, and it has left me proud and smiling.
Yes Bafana is out of the World Cup and we all need to pick a ‘second team’ now – although i am sure most people had one from the start – but they boys did really well and made us all VERY proud to be South African. They played with all their hearts on Tuesday, they showed us all that they were willing to fight for it and we couldn’t really ask much more. If you had told me on the day of the draw earlier this year that we would win one, draw one and loose one to end 3rd in group A i would have GLADLY taken that. We might be out and there might be fewer SA flags flying high on cars and apartment windows, but we are still in this in a major way – we are hosting this competition and it is only really starting now.
I have been receiving lots of praise from friends all over the world – saying what a stellar job we are doing at hosting this event. Even the Germans, who hosted one of the best in 2006, admit that we are on top form. Tourists love this country, as was evident when i rocked up at Waiting Room just after kick off in the USA - Algeria game yesterday.
I might have mentioned before that I have a couch surfer staying with me for the month. Nadia, a half German-half Dutch girlie who has lived in the USA for over 10 years is in SA to volunteer at a charity – where she has met many other American volunteers. So i went to watch the game with her, secretly wanting to shout for Algeria, as an African Hope... but when i walked into the room full of loud yanks, i kind of changed my mind. For 90 minutes i sat ready with my camera to capture the moment they score, because i knew it would be a passionate celebration. And for 90minutes my camera would turn itself off every time the Americans missed another shot at goal. They had many opportunities (and i don’t think the offside call on the 1st half goal was correct) but after that they just could not find the target. The Algerian goalkeeper was on TOP form though and it was always going to be tough to get past him. There were many calls of F FIFA and shoot the ref – but when they eventually found the back of the net, in over time, the room erupted. 
Shouts of U.S.A, U.S.A!!! U.S.A could be heard for a long time after the final whistle as they spilled out onto the balcony to announce their win to Long Street with the call of the vuvuzela. 
This is really good for American Soccer (as i heard one guy say when we left – “a great day for America”) and i think if they take on soccer more seriously in the years following this world cup they will definitely become a force to be reckoned with.
And then it was time for my ‘other team’ to play another African hope. I made my position clear this time though - a Facebook status told the world (or at least my world of 297 friends) where my allegiance lies with the statement: Sorry Ghana, but this is my team, GO GERMANY...
I didn’t really get to watch the game as we had a meeting (another plan for world domination, watch this space) but kept an eye on the screen and was delighted with the results, my boys won, and Ghana still gets to carry the African hope forward... Win-win!
I even planned my outfit yesterday around my team – wore all black all day, but then added my red jacket and yellow bag, to look like a walking German flag...
This competition is only getting started, today Nadia goes to Cape Town stadium to watch the Netherlands (once again making me wish i had bought a ticket), and tomorrow two teams on top form take each other on in what will be one of the most exciting games of the tournament when Brazil plays Portugal.
I’ve put today aside to do some work – it has been way too much play and too little work lately – and I am not planning on leaving the house or turning on a TV today.
Here is to being proud hosts of this momentous tournament. PROST!
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