Durban

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The final day, E-Day, the end, the conclusion; it was fitting enough that my final day on African soil would fall on the day of the World Cup Final.
Somehow, it was a world cup final that included my beloved Netherlands. Up against however, the best team in the tournament, player for player - Spain.
We awoke around 10am for a marathon period of drama, football and travel. Little did I know, that from that point, I would sleep a mere 2 hours, in the next 50+

Our destination of choice to watch the final, was to be the Durban fanfest, the next place to be, outside Soccer City itself.
The pre-match weather was a bit concerning. The Durban slogan for the world cup was 'The Warmest Place to be'

It was fittingly ironic, as this was about the highlight of the city, literally. Furthermore, despite mostly being blue skies and warm enough, the day of the final saw ominous black clouds sweeping in, alongside high winds, just hours before kickoff.

We piled into the stadium along with some 40,000 fans, for the Closing Ceremony and quick dinner. There was an impressive atmosphere in there, of which id say Spanish fans dominated support by 6-1.
It was about the most intense nerve racking sporing occaision id ever watched, eclipsing the Hawthorn Geelong 2008 Grand Final.

Without going into too much detail, Spain won their first ever World Cup, and Holland finished runners-up for the third time. The cons, it was obviously shattering with only 4 minutes til the lottery of penalties, Robben missed a couple guilt edged chances, and Heitinga's very soft Red card, contributed immensely to Iniesta having the space to win it

The pros; Holland well and truly eclipsed pre-tournament expectations by a mile, and have claimed second spot, and Rank 2 in the World. Despite playing an ugly physical final, they matched Spain, closed them down everywhere, and did what they had to do. It was little more than bad luck that saw them eventually beaten.

The trip back to the hotel wasn't without controversy. I managed to leave my mobile phone in the taxi back, and spent the next couple hours (with the assistance of our hotel manager) finding phones, and ways to convince him to get back to our hotel and drop it off. I got it back, but by the time all that had happened, i had little over an hour to sleep (depressed and distressed) before leaving for the airport to leave African soil for home.Read more