Dry Lips, Luzza Luggage, Seat Hopping and Orange Victory

Creators of Lip Balm, Chapstick etc definitely make a roaring trade in places like Johannesburg. I believe that the local supermarket in Bedfordview ran out of stock as the throng of Australians cleared their shelves within days of arriving. I quickly found out that the air at altitude has a tendency to make your lips dry up quicker than the Australian sun. Thanks to my room mate and fellow Green & Gold Army on tour staff member, Joey Luzza, help is never too far away and I now carry my little tin of lip medicine everywhere I go.

You see, Joey is just the seasoned campaigner when it comes to travelling. He takes what us less frequent globe trotters as his duty to ensure that we are all well catered for. Dry Lips? Joe has ample supply already packed. Small stain on your shirt and no time to spare? Never fear as Joe has a travel tube of OMO spot stain remover. Overseas adapter compatible with South Africa? Yep, you guessed it. There are a few other subtle things that Joe has done in the first week over here that has made our transition as smooth as possible. I joked the other day that if I am to attend another World Cup and Joe decided not to come then I would give it a miss  In summary, Joey is nothing short of a modern day Leyland brother.

Joey and I with Zakumi, the World Cup mascot.

Today, Joey and I took the reigns as we took a bus load out to Soccer City for the Holland-Denmark game. After the long trip back from Durban overnight, we only had an hour or so to prepare as we left the Hotel at 9.30am. The tired and weary showed great stamina as we enjoyed the day at what must be now one of the Worlds great stadiums and one which will host the final on July 11. What’s become evident is the leniency of the ushers and volunteers inside the stadiums across all venues. Last night at the Germany-Australia game I didn’t fancy sitting on the top deck (as per my match ticket) so Jason, Kat and I headed straight down to the corner flag on level 1 and picked a empty pocket. Earlier I had been given a Category two ticket to sit with Stef Paoli and Sam Fava, and then found a level 1 ticket in my hand thanks to Jason who found it on the floor! So, in the end I went home with three match tickets.

Fast forward again to today, our seats were literally in the nose bleed section. Not happy with that, a few of us went down and stood behind the goal. Ushers at the entry points couldn’t have cared less and were more soaked up in the atmosphere than anything else. At half time, one young lady approached me and asked where I was sitting, all while dancing and bopping away to the official Shakira World Cup song that was blaring through the speakers. How can you that seriously?  So I just laughed, she laughed, we came to no real conclusion and we stayed standing where we were. It brings me to another subject of how over regulated we are in Australia and how you’re normally ejected for so much as sneezing in Australian stadiums. We can leave that debate for another time. Its now become a challenge for us that we must try and better our seats at each game. Legend status will be given to anyone that scams their way into a corporate box! Let the games begin.

My original seat

My self upgraded seat

The Dutch controlled the match for the most part and came away with a deserved 2-0 victory. What I enjoyed most was watching action away from the ball manoeuvring and in particular the way the Dutch kept their shape. They defend so well and are very difficult to break down. Their pivoting when not in possession will make them a formidable adversary as the tournament progresses.

Tomorrow we’re off to Ellis Park and Brazil-Korea. Looking forward to seeing one of my Roma heroes, Juan in action in what on paper looks like an easy start for the ‘Selecao’.