To our relief the Football World Cup is NOT very much alive here. We feel for those of you who have been bombarded with news and advertising around it for Months now. We get an occasional add where they are referring to - the biggest Soccer competition of the world - for some BBQ meat or something. There is an occasional article in Magazine - ususally more about why the sport is so big everywhere else, and about what the world cup will do for South Africa....and that is about it.
If you want to see the game you need to find a sportsbar that is willing to open up early on e.g. Monday Morning (1st Holland game) and serve breakfast instead of booz in a stale reeking bar. Not many do.
The World Cup football pool competition at work in my case has 6 participants (the only foreigners in our 80 people group, all of whom apart from me are Brits with Green Cards).
The only one asking me if I am excited and telling me that Holland stands a good chance (don't they always tell us), are the other foreigners we know and the occasional local South American who finds out we are Dutch.
It does not help either that the Americans have been given a negative travell advise fro SA because of some threats from teh other side of the African continent.
If you want to I am sure you can find more Soccer. The sports channels cover other things at the moment but at non-peak hours some previews are on.
I have yet to find a shop though that sells Soccer shirts from the American team. Guess Rick will need to go for his Dutch heritage on this one.....I'll just get him an Astros shirt instead for his American sports pride -;)
