Vuvuzelas, and the World Cup final

[pml]

Hi Steltz,

okay, off-topic...

Although before the match I was hoping the Netherlands would overcome their ill-luck at finals, I think they played in an extremely ugly fashion (Nigel de Jong really should have been red carded rather than shown a yellow, so the Netherlands should be grateful that Howard Webb didn’t reduce them to ten men in the first half). I believe the best side won in the end.

Have you seen this?

Regards, Philip

[steltz]

How is complete separation possible when the one site links to the other. I'm not complaining, but just slightly worried about the legal aspects.

@pml--I agree about the red card, but I don't think it was a good or clean game generally. I was watching from Cape Town, and most people here (given the history) were supporting the Dutch. That goal looked offsides to most of us. In the end, though I think I agree that the (slightly) better team won, I just wanted better soccer.

[pml]

Hi Steltz,

split the topic into the off-topic forum so you might want to copy your question about IMSLP-EU back to the other thread.

How long have you been in SA, for the whole cup or just a week or two? What’s the atmosphere in Cape Town been like?

The first time there was the possibility of the ball getting across to Iniesta he most definitely was in an off-side position, but the ball was knocked back without Iniesta coming into play, so the flag stayed down, and then a few seconds later when the cross from Fabregas went over, he was back in an on-side position. So I tend to think it was a little preferable for the game to finish after extra time rather than go to penalties.

PML

[steltz]

I live here, so it's been in my back yard, though I was in Europe for the first 2 weeks of it. The atmosphere has been incredible, and for those who haven't had tickets, there is still the fan walk, and places outside to watch on huge screens. It has been very cold, but everyone just dressed for it, and you might have seen a couple of games with howling rain. One was in Cape Town, and we woke up to rain that morning. I felt sorry for the players, losing their footing without anyone even sticking a foot in front of them. But that's been about the only downside, apart from some restaurants that grossly overcharged.

In the restaurants that show games, people were supporting different sides -- the night Spain played Portugal, I was in a restaurant where there was one big table where half the table supported Spain and the other half Portugal, so you got booing and cheering all in the same place. A bit schizophrenic, but it worked.

You're probably right about the last goal, but by that point it was getting a bit emotional, and I think I wouldn't mind watching that part (not the others and especially not de Jong) to have another look at it

Oh, and if you watched the final World Cup concert, the female singer that sang with Andrea Bocelli is one of our recent graduates.

[pml]

Ah – I thought you’d been in Europe from previous mention of visiting various libraries, so thought you had made a trip to SA for the Cup. I see that I have matters 180º round the wrong way!

I was in Italy for most of the France 98 tournament and with the games being on at decent hours in the day and evening, the community atmosphere (especially when the Azzurri were playing) was great, people watching the games everywhere, big piazzas set up with screens, and the eruption of noise whenever goals were scored. (Later on when I was flying from Firenze to Paris in possession of a portable LCD television while the France v Italy quarter-final was on, the flight was delayed two hours, no televisions in sight were showing the game, and so a horde of French and Italian fans came crowding around me in the gate lounge to see a postage-stamp sized image...)

In general, that’s something Australia has tended to miss out on when the cup is held in Europe or the Americas, and games are scheduled for 4 am in the morning – only the die hards are up watching!

Unfortunately we didn’t get the final concert through our network coverage (and apparently Nelson Mandela’s arrival at the final game was blotted out by commercials, so apparently only those within the stadium or nearby were aware that he was there).

Regards, PML