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  • Day 7

    Durban, South Africa

    June 13, 2010 in South Africa ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    http://www.travelark.org/travel-blog-entry/tofo…

    After waiting so long for the World Cup, and travelling half way accross the world to watch Australia compete for it, it proved to be the most tragic anticlimax imaginable.
    Ironically, the 26 hours of being awake between our 2.30am pickup on Monday here and the time we got back Tuesday at 4.30am, were the worst 26 hours of the entire trip so far, for several reasons.
    Firstly, the cringable incompetence of the Fanatics tour group continued. I cant imagine why it was neccessary to collect us at 2.30am... some 18 hours before kick off...
    When they did so, we made our way almost to the airport before they realised they had to turn back and pick up other fans from a hotel even further away from the airport than we were, wasting a good 90minutes in the early hours of the morning

    Arrival at the Durban Fanatics HQ didnt bring any further happiness. Breakfast was terribly cooked/ smoking and took over an hour in line to get.
    95% of the Fanatics fans-base as well.. makes you want to have a shower just being associated with them... The Australian fans are loud, rude, obnoxious, horrifically unintelligent, naive, offensive, tacky and arrogant (without any justification). The fans are largely either 20-30 year old guys who offend anyone in their presence and lack any sort of dignity whatsoever (eg. walking and urinating simultaneously on their way out of the stadium), or 40-50 year old, overweight, angry, drunk, VB passionate dickheads with facepaint and yellow wigs...
    Matt and I met up with Nick & Co in Durban for drinks, and to watch the earlier games. That was fun, even though neither game was very exciting. Also met some cool locals which was good.
    The game itself was tragic to say the least.
    Both the managerial tactics, team strategy, effort, application and mental fortitude on the pitch was an utter disgrace at best.

    Starting with 0 strikers, and our best player up forward on his own, isolated and taken out of the game, was not prudent against Germany, who really gave Australia an utter masterclass. In addition to the fact that Cahill received a (harsh) straight red card, his world cup group stage is now over, and as a result, Australias world cup is likely over too.
    Over a year of waiting, and then an absolute shaming of epic magnitude to lose it all right off the bat, there was NOTHING positive to take from this game for Australia. Full credit to Germany too, who played some beautiful football.
    Then all that was left to do was drag myself back to Cape Town via painful bus and plane transport...
    What a terrible 24 hours.
    Henceforth im all for the Dutch and all for Holland.
    Next game, Italy Vs Paraguay.
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