Final match day: 11th July 2010
Friday 14th June 2010, the day that the 2010 FIFA World Cup commenced in South Africa at Soccer City seems a long way off. The first goal scored by Tshabalala of the South African Bafana Bafana team seems like a distant memory. Today we turn full circle and return to the same venue for the final match in this year’s tournament. We have watched 63 games in the interim. There are just two of the 32 nations that remain. The Netherlands and Spain.
The Dutch supporters clad in their colourful orange garb have been the most visible group of supporters outside of the South Africans during this World Cup. Stories abound in the local newspapers of how some came across from the Netherlands driving through the whole of Africa on a shoestring budget to witness the World Cup and to support their team. I attended the Netherlands Denmark match during the group stage matches. I noticed large blocks of seats taken up by the Netherlands supporters. The stadia where the Netherlands played their matches were usually awash with the colour orange. Some of the Netherlands supporters lived frugally here in South Africa. They camped on the river banks in the Western Cape. They drove in convoy across South Africa from one match to the other. This World Cup shall have their orange stamp of their presence burnt into our memories.
The Spanish have not made their presence felt in similar numbers. Many South African supporters changed their allegiance to Spain, as many others did to the Netherlands once the hoist country and Ghana were disposed off in the matches. Amongst the Spanish players, Torres enjoys a considerable following here. Many were thus disappointed with his poor form during this World Cup. On a few occasions during the Cup, he showed the traces of the skill that has earned him this international following.
The stage was set for the grand finale to this year’s World Cup. The Dutch had congregated outside the Soccer City stadium some seven hours ahead of kick off. Spanish fans had flown into the country overnight to support their team. It would seem as if the Spanish supporters outnumbered the Dutch supporters if the photographs and television images coming from the stadium are to be believed. There was certainly no huge block of seats that were being occupied by Dutch supporters. Did this eventually weigh against their team’s performance?
The screening of the closing ceremony was delayed for unknown reasons. Part of the ceremony was not televised. This must be the only unsatisfactory turn of events that has placed a slight damper on this World Cup. There were whisperings that an attempt was made to steal the gold Cup. Photographs of this incident show a man making a lunge for the trophy. It is inconceivable how he would have managed to get the trophy out of the stadium given the huge police and security presence there.
Dignitaries from around the World watched the match with 84 thousand other supporters. Royal visitors from Spain and the Netherlands were in attendance. The closing ceremony was spectacular. I shall remember the vivid images created on the field with sophisticated projectors, the replica elephants and lions that were led to the watering hole whilst a song about rain was sung by South Africa’s internationally renowned choir, the Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Then there was the performance by Shakira of her award winning World Cup song Waka Waka.
The final match disappointed, going into extra time when the deciding goal was scored by Spain. The match was marred by overzealous play with both teams committing serious fouls. The Netherlands could consider themselves lucky that their player was not sent off before half time when he raised his boot to the chest of one of the Spanish players. The Netherlands did eventually have one of their players red carded for repeated transgressions. The referee had a poor game.
The coveted World Cup trophy was jointly handed over to the Spanish captain by Sepp Blatter and President Jacob Zuma. The Spanish captain was overwhelmed by emotion after his team had scored the only goal about five minutes into the second period of extra time played. The varied emotions displayed by both teams of players were evident for all to see. The Dutch had become frustrated and lost their focus in extra time. They lost the match as a result. This should not detract from the fact that they were the only team to really challenge the victors apart from Switzerland who had surprisingly beaten Spain in their first game of the tournament.
The Dutch and the Spanish teams departed South Africa within hours of the conclusion of the game, the Spanish returning to a hero’s welcome in Madrid and the Dutch to a less subdued welcome. Both teams had the opportunity of lifting the World Cup for the first time. By all accounts, the Spanish deserved to be victorious on a conspectus of their individual performances during the entire World Cup. Perhaps the Brazil event in 2014 shall evoke better memories for the Dutch.
Tomorrow, we pick up on our lives from where we left off before this event hit our shores. .
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