WOW!
That is all I can say when I trace back over our 32 hour trek from Sydney to Cape Town. This has easily been the longest and the most enduring travel expedition I have ever experienced but the important thing is that I am here and the dream is now a reality!
I have totally settled in, had some decent sleep in a bed, collected my thoughts, sorted out my online connectivity and power adapters and even managed a little run in with the locals. All in all though, I am simply overwhelmed by Cape Town, what a beautiful city!
I will never forget this trip, already in 3 days I have experienced so many different emotions and moments that are priceless. Here are some snaps that show these perfectly….
Getting the tickets was an emotional moment for me to say the least but, more importantly, it was reassurance to me that futbol IS and ALWAYS will be the greatest game on earth!
The flight over was no drama whatsoever, the V Australia plane was extremely comfortable and the stewardesses were a great distraction 🙂 The drive from Johannesburg to Cape Town though was an entirely different story. We started off well but all we saw for 16 hours was this:
It was a test of determination and the human spirit and all that junk but in the end we made it and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world right now!
But now on to the real reason why we are all here, as I am typing this up the time it is 2:26am on the Friday morning of the two opening World Cup matches. In approx 18 hours Uruguay and France will play out a hotly contested futbol match and both will be trying to get off to a good start by getting that all-important win.
But apart from all that, its a chance for Uruguay to beat a bunch of cheats that think they are the best thing since sliced bread. If nothing else, I really hope Uruguay leaves it all out there on the field cause they will need to be at their best to come away with the 3 points. As I had limited to no online connectivity today I was unable to track the news surrounding the team starting 11 and other team announcements however I was shocked to see El Maestro announce not only our starting XI but our formation 2 days prior to the match.
Now as I had plenty of time today to talk to other Uruguayos who are here in Cape Town for the match plus the 2 travelling with me, my initial “WTF???” moment was quickly replaced by “OMFG, WTF???” when I saw that Gargano and Lodiero were both on the bench. Now as you may have read in one of my previous blog entries, I wasn’t a fan for Gargano based off his performance against Israel however I still think that he deserves to be in our starting XI.
Fernando Muslera
Diego Godin Diego Lugano Mauricio Victorino
Maximiliano Pereira Arevalo Rios “Ruso” Perez “ Palito” Pereira
“Nacho” Gonzalez
Luis Suarez Diego Forlan
Here’s hoping that El Maestro and the rest of the coaching staff locos have got their tactics in order. If they win, he will be a hero but if they lose I can already see what will be said.
My prediction for the 2 matches tomorrow are as follows:
South Africa 3 – Mexico 2
Uruguay 2 – France 1
VAMOS URUGUAY CARAJO!
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