Wednesday 7th July 2010

The Durban stadium was built in close proximity to the coastline. It is situated in close proximity to the Kings Park stadium, the well known South African rugby stadium. The Durban stadium was named the name Moses Mahbida stadium after a stalwart of the struggle against apartheid. The stadium is simply magnificent. I would join many others in considering it to be the most beautiful of the 2010 soccer stadiums in South Africa.

Durban is blessed with warm weather all year round. So whilst we shiver in Johannesburg and get wet in the Cape winter, Durban’s strongest selling point is the warm weather and its warm sea. Durban has lagged behind in its ability to attract overseas visitors to the city. With this World Cup and the reliance of the City managers to highlight its pleasant warm weather during winter, Durban has undoubtedly restored some of its appeal that was lost over the past two decades.

The beaches are an undoubted attraction for both surfers as well as beach going revellers. Durban has one of the biggest fan fest parks on the beachfront. Durban also has the largest Indian population outside of India. The exclusive commodity associated with this group of the population is the bunny chow. The bunny chow is a quarter loaf of bread holed out in the centre and filled with exquisite curries. They are sold in most restaurants in Durban. It goes without saying that the best “bunnies” are made by the Indian restaurants and enjoyed in the company of people who have no qualms about digging in with their bare hands.

Spain played Germany in the other semi final today. The Germans lost the fluidity that they had displayed in the quarter finals against Argentina. They had no answers for the precision passing of the Spanish. They were completely outplayed. The 1-0 score line flatters their performance today. Germany shall not be raising the World Cup this time round. Their young team however bodes well for their future performance in the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Just two matches remain in the 2010 World Cup.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Cape Town Minstrel Carnival

Image
The Cape Town Minstrel Carnival is one of the many attractions that take place in Cape Town, South Africa during the summer holiday season. The Cape Minstrels have been performing on the streets of Cape Town for at least a century, the parade taking place on the 2nd January annually. The minstrel carnival has its origins in the period of slavery and was arranged as a celebratory party for the slaves on a day when they were given leave from their jobs. The colourful costumes adorned by the various troupes adds life to the streets of Cape Town. A crowd of approximately one hundred thousand people line the procession path of the troupes into town. The 2012 event was advertised to start at 10h00, but the main parade only got going at about 2pm. This is unacceptable and this aspect should be seriously addressed by the main players involved in arranging this event. It is apparent that major infrastructure has to be put in place for this event to proceed safely and successfully. The police
Read more

OPENING DAY WORLD CUP 2010

The great day has finally dawned. I awoke to a sunny wintry Cape Town day. My thoughts were focussed on what would occur later today. By this I mean whether the host country’s team Bafana Bafana would be able to conquer Mexico on the soccer playing fields of Soccer City later today. But more of what transpired in that match later. Scenes of an incompletely full Soccer City stadium were of concern. It later transpired that the traffic grid locks besieging Johannesburg car drivers had delayed the arrival of many of the spectators for the opening match. The area around Soccer City looked rather arid. An attempt should have been made to develop the bare sand filled areas with some green gardens. There are no complaints of the stadium however. Soccer City looked imposing. The atmosphere as the stadium filled shall leave an indelible mark on my memory. The opening ceremony commenced at exactly 2pm with the acrobatic display of some fighter planes. Their
Read more

The Green Point Urban Park, Cape Town, South Africa

Image
FIFA, the controlling body of international soccer insisted that a new stadium be built at Green Point for the 2010 soccer world cup. The stadium was duly built. The staging of the tournament was regarded as a resounding success more so as this was the first time that the soccer showpiece was staged in Africa. The Cape Town Stadium received very favourable praise. Then everything was over and the new stadium began collecting dust, literally. There was just one little aspect that remained outstanding. During the construction phase, reference was made to the development of an urban park in the stadium precinct. The impression created was that this park would be completed at or before the commencement of the 2010 soccer world cup. Now there was some development and landscaping around the stadium at the time of the world cup. I for one thought that this was the sum total of the urban park that was envisaged for this area. Well, I was wrong. The development of the urban park was kept unde
Read more