Posts tagged: world cup

The best piece of journalism on ‘Africa’s World Cup’

Bar none. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c

Monday June 28th, 2010 in , , , , | 2 Comments »

Observations from Soccer City

Last night was my first World Cup experience as a fan. An Ivory Coast scarf wrapped round my neck, I watched Les Elephants lose 3-1 to Brazil at Soccer City. Some thoughts… South Africans may have bought tickets in large numbers, but are they football fans? Many of those I sat with behind the goal [...]

Monday June 21st, 2010 in , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

“Do not underestimate the South African achievement.”

Excellent op-ed in he New York Times by Roger Cohen, who spent part of his childhood in apartheid South Africa. It’s worth reading the whole thing but here’s the best bit: South Africa will probably become the first host nation ever to fail to qualify for the second round. That would be sad but in [...]

Saturday June 19th, 2010 in , , , | No Comments »

Online hatred for Mali’s Koman Coulibaly

Ah, the internet… What’s not to love? The USA-Slovenia match ended less than half an hour ago. Koman Coulibaly, the Malian referee, didn’t have the greatest of games culminating in his decision to disallow a perfectly good winning goal for the Americans. Here’s a selection of the new entries made to Coulibaly’s Wikipedia page: “If [...]

Friday June 18th, 2010 in , , , , , | 3 Comments »

So much for this being an African World Cup…

So much for this being an African World Cup. Few Africans from outside the host country have been able to make the trip south, while the South Africans who make their trade from football – the informal hawkers and trinket sellers – have been banned from within half a mile of the stadiums. The official World [...]

Friday June 18th, 2010 in , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

In celebration of a South African airline and a Dutch beer.

Until this week I had never heard of Bavaria beer. Apparently it’s Dutch. No idea what it taste like. Whether it’s a bitter or lager, sweet or sour. I had heard of Kulula, although I haven’t ever flown with them, but that’s only because I’ve taken a few domestic flights in South Africa over the [...]

Wednesday June 16th, 2010 in , , , , | 2 Comments »

Why the vuvuzela should be banned (in stadiums, anyway)

Is the vuvuzela about to be banned? One can only hope so. The ubiquitous plastic horns have been the soundtrack to this World Cup, drowning out every other attempt at singing, chanting and music. Nigeria has a fantastic brass band. The only reason I know they were at Ellis Park on Saturday was because I [...]

Sunday June 13th, 2010 in , , , , , , | 5 Comments »