Zimmy B

After a valiant effort by the USA last night, we left the stadium witnessing the last match of the 2010 USA World Cup team (though many of us quickly started to plan for 2014 in Brazil - anyone?).

Our late night turned into a an even earlier morning, as we woke up around 5am to tour the incredibly expansive game park that Pilanesburg has to offer. Most of us were skeptical at the odds of us seeing live game walking and feeding near our cars, but we were wrong.

The first 20 minutes of the self-guided tour provided us with some shots of the sun rising and the moon setting over the mountains. How often do we get to see that back home?

Seemingly out of nowhere, the first car, driven by the one and only Mike Taylor (or currently known as Zimbabwe Bob / Zimmy B), slammed on its brakes and told us to continue to back up. The second car couldn't see much, but of course we had to trust Zimmy B's native instincts (you'd be stupid not to).

Sure enough, there they were -- two full-grown male lions walking down the middle of our road. These creatures are impressive enough in textbooks and when leading a chorus in animated movies, but this was far better than what we had expected.*

The remaining portion of the game park tour (one of possibly three) had us wind through some pretty scenic topography. We also saw a handful of zebras, warthogs and other African animals that our free pamphlet failed to identify.*

So, as I'm sure you have read, we will be at Pilanesburg until tomorrow morning. We will then drive back to Jo'burg and leave for Victoria Falls (in Zimbabwe, by the way) on Tuesday. There we will enjoying some whitewater rafting, walking with the lions and a booze cruise. Sadly, our two-week escapade in Africa will come to a close on July 3, when we depart from Jo'burg for Atlanta and finally home in Chicago.

Cheers.

*Due to these lovely computers at our place of stay (circa early '90s), we are unable to post photos. We will have a separate site set up for all of our photos following our arrival on July 4.

Spain vs. Chile

Apologies for not updating this in a couple days but we have been without internet at the house. Therefore I would like to take this time to update you all on what has happened since our last post.

After the exciting USA game on Wednesday, Thursday was an off day for us which we spent sleeping in, shopping, playing cards, and generally just relaxing. Friday was another day of shopping followed by the Spain vs. Chile game in Pretoria that evening. Once again Spain proved to be victorious, winning 2-1, but Chile more than held their own, especially in the first half. It was nice to see Spain’s beautiful passing game again, and they definitely have to be considered one of the favorites to win it all.

As I write this we have just arrived at the game park (more to come on this later) and are getting geared up for the USA-Ghana Round of 16 game tonight. Speaking of the USA game, if you haven’t heard a few of us were on TV last time (if you have footage of this please let us know), so keep your fingers crossed the trend continues and you will get to see our smiling faces once again.

P.S. Drew, my Fanta is safe

Circle of Life

Today we arrived at the Pilanesburg game park in Sun City. While the soccer we have seen so far has been great, we are glad to be moving on to the next stage of our journey. And we are happy to have moved into a place that has heat! Unfortunately, we cannot get the camera to work at this resort's computer. We will just have to rub it in verbally for now. Our rooms come fully loaded with a hot tub on the patio and a sweet view that overlooks the game park. We hope to wake up tomorrow to find wild beasts drinking from our resort's watering hole. Or we can just wake up and view the watering hole from our tv. (They have a channel for it...)

Tomorrow we will begin our safari adventure. It's nice to be out of the city and the chaos. However, we will have one last night of amazing soccer. Tonight we will make the 45 minute drive to Rustenburg to see the USA take on Ghana (Tom King's favorite country). Following a victory, we plan to have a great night celebrating. It'll be fun to hang out in our hot tub on a cool night like tonight. Maybe we will find ourselves playing a little Circle of Death...

Go home Italy.

Can't beat Slovakia? Neither can the Vavrik brothers.


Thanks for coming, Italy. We'll see you in 2014 (if you're lucky).

Cheers.

p.s. We are going to the USA v. Ghana game on Saturday! Spread the word, look for us and wear your colors...

Goals

We have the day off today before we attend what could be our final match of the tournament tomorrow in Spain vs Chile (unless we get tickets to the USA vs Ghana game on Saturday, fingers crossed). We thought we would catch up on some blogging while we have time and internet before we head off into the wilderness for some activities.

This morning another article was published about our trip to South Africa. You can find it here. Pass on the blog website to anyone you think might be interested in our trip. Last night we met a guy from Deerfield that recognized us from the newspaper and blog and wanted to take a picture with us.

Below you will find a link to the game winning goal from last night. We have heard from numerous people how amazing it was to watch on tv and its hard to find the words to describe what we were feeling in person at the moment.

You will also find a link to a video taken by Manno during the USA vs Slovenia game. He captured what should have been the game winning goal in that match. This video might give you a sense of the excitement we felt last night.

Enjoy!

The Goal that was (USA v. Algeria)

The Goal that should have been (USA vs. Slovenia)

Epic.

What a game. What a day.

Today started off with nothing but the game on our minds. Next thing we knew, we were on a train to Pretoria (that ran way longer than expected). You'd think that these public trains would be packed with locals, but we found ourselves with the "soccer fans only" train -- with a car entirely to ourselves. Before we knew it, we had invented the greatest train game of all time (only played in South Africa) -- K-Ball. In short, the basis of K-Ball revolves around the elementary school game of "four square" but involves six to eight people sitting on benches on a train using an American flag (Made in China) bouncy ball. Meanwhile, Taylor and Greg took a couple short naps in hoping that our game would soon die down. Needless to say, the game quickly evolved into a game that we will attempt to bring back to the states. In the words of Marty McFly, "I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it."

Due to South Africa's lovely public transportation system, we took the first train towards Pretoria but had to take another train after we had already passed the stadium. For those of you familiar with the CTA lines, it's like transferring because you have no other choice.

Fast forward another hour or so, and we are power-walking...jogging...and then finally sprinting towards the gates. With our 'family section' passes in hand (thank you Spector family), we made our way to Gate 1. Here's an idea of what we saw the entire game...

Oh, wait, no...this...


Throughout the entire game, we took part in the many "U S A!" cheers and enjoyed our case (yes, an entire case) of Budweiser straight from the concession stand. We also tried to beat our superstitions by sitting in specific seats and passing the American flag between "lucky" group members.

After hitting the post a couple of times and having a goal called back due to offsides (BS - by the way), we were all starting to grow a little nervous. Oh, and it didn't help that we heard that England took a 1-0 lead vs. Slovenia. At that point, we absolutely needed to win no matter what in order to move on to the Round of 16. The latter part of the second half saw a couple key substitutions that would help us create more chances offensively, but again, we were still cautious.

In the 91st minute, Landon Donovan followed up on a rebound from the Algerian keeper that sent the stadium in to a frenzy. Never have we experienced such a rapid flux in emotions -- from despair to pure ecstasy -- even after winning a state championship back in 2003 (yep, we went there). Put it this way, it was enough to even bring a grown man to tears -- right Tom King?

The aftermath that followed was unbelieveable; strangers hugged, danced, chanted and even toasted beers with one another. And yes, some beers went airborne (courtesy of our row). Can't blame us, right?


If you couldn't tell already, it was a day to remember.


More to come tomorrow. Cheers.

U S A

Unbelievable.

More to come later...

Waka Waka

...and we're off to the USA v. Algeria game!

http://www.youtube.com/v/pRpeEdMmmQ0

Following the USA game, we'll be heading to see Germany v. Ghana later on tonight. We will do our absolute best to update you all once again with pictures...and video!

At This Stage Here

Sorry for the delay, we've been busy driving. Enjoy the recap from yesterday below.

Yesterday we attended a crucial game that determined who would advance out of group A, Uruguay vs. Mexico. A win for either team guaranteed 1st place in the group, and the loser needed to hope to keep the score close. The other pairing in group A was playing at the same time, France vs South Africa. A victory by Bafana Bafana, with a large enough margin, could have put South Africa through to the next round on goal differential, the tie breaker in group play, over the loser of the game we attended. Needless to say, the locals came out in large numbers to cheer on Uruguay to a big win, who was their past chance for SA to advance. Not to diminish the Mexican fanbase that came out in vibrant costumes and face paint as we have all come to expect.

The game took part in Rustenberg which is a bit of a hike from our house. After Gladys made us some delicious breakfast, we got in the cars and 2.5 hours later, we arrived at the Fu...Phokeng Parking Lot. There we enjoyed some lunch that we had prepared: sandwiches, chips, and soda(diet, regular, and frat). Then we hopped on the shuttle and were at the stadium. Rustenberg is smaller in comparison to any other stadiums we have seen, but every seat in the house had a good view of the action on the field.

After being cramped up in the car we were excited to see an exciting game and we weren't disappointed. Uruguay played strong defensively and capitalized on a beautiful cross that Suarez headed home in the first half. Mexico put in a real strong second half and knocked on Uruguays doorstep several times, but unfortunately for them, were unable to put one away. The score ended 1-0 in favor of Uruguay.

But made matters more exciting was that we were surrounded by South African fans who were being updated on the South African score. South Africa went up 2-0, each goal bringing a synchronized blaring of vuvuzelas and exhalting cheers from all over the stadium. They got a third called back on a questionable call and a few others that hit the woodwork. France got one back well into the 2nd half, ending at 2-1. We enjoyed relishing in the potential uproar of the South African fans had the results gone there way. Things did not work out the way we had hoped. While they tied Mexico in points, they lost in goal differential, and Mexico is advancing behind Uruguay to the knockout stages.


This would bring the end of any good time to be had for several hours. We thought driving back from a Bears game was bad!!! From the time we pulled out of the parking lot, we were in the car for nearly 5 hours, bumper to bumper through dark country roads in two packed cars. As you could imagine, we could've done without that. Phokeng perfect.

Spain vs. Who?

Last night we went to see an exciting game at Ellis Park Stadium. This stadium is famous for being the home of the South African Springbok Rugby Team. It is featured in the movie Invictus. Having now seen both the stadiums in Joburg, I can compare them to our hometown venues. If Soccer City is like the new refurbished Soldier Field, Ellis Park is definitely the Wrigley Field of Joburg . . . it is old-school, classy, and awesome!

The match we went to see was Spain vs. Honduras, but it really didn't seem like Honduras showed up to play. Spain controlled the ball the vast majority of the game passing triangles (not circles) around Honduras. Spain's team is made up of a tight group of players that play together on Barcelona, and they really showed that they know how to play together well. Watching them play really made you appreciate the beauty of the game.

Ultimately, Spain won the game 2-0, but it could have been a much higher score if they only would shoot more often. Instead of thinking about the Spain vs. Honduras match that we watched, I kept finding myself comparing the two best teams we have seen so far: Spain and Brazil. In terms of passing, both teams are amazing. Only perhaps Argentina can compare. Passing is a tie. In terms of finishing, both Luis Fabiano and David Villa had some pretty astonishing finishes. So shooting is a tie. But, I gotta say there is one thing that tilts the scale in Spains favor . . . they had the more appealing fan section.

Joga Bonito

Yesterday was an incredible experience. Following the museum tour, we grilled out and enjoyed some delicious chicken, ribs, sausages and burgers. Taylor's father and his sister's family joined us as well for a pretty unforgettable Fathers Day (by the way, happy fathers day to all of you dads reading this lovely piece of literature).

Last night, we attended the Brazil v. Ivory Coast at Soccer City in downtown Johannesburg. You really couldn't have asked for a better introduction to the culture here. Our group took a spin on the park & ride, which had us weave through a fairly scenic city and finally around the stadium. After a long walk, some bargaining with local vendors and a security check, the stroll up to the stadium was breathtaking (see below). The atmosphere both inside and out of the stadium was like nothing I've ever experienced before in my life. Think Super Bowl...but bigger.















The starting lineups were greeted by the insanely loud vuvuzelas, which apparently everyone and their mother owns now. This match was heavily anticipated due to Ivory Coast's Dider Drogba vs. Brazil's...entire team. As patriotic Americans, we each double-fisted Budweisers (coincidentally the sponsor of the World Cup) and made friends with the locals and the many, many fans from other countries. The Brazilian fans below had a makeshift sign that read "1 picture = 1 beer" which instantly had us bite the bullet for a chance to pose with the homemade World Cup trophy.















In short, Luis Fabiano joga bonito-ed all over the entire Ivory Coast team -- topping it all off with a beautiful volley past the keeper (one of the best solo efforts I've ever seen). Tomorrow, we're headed to Rustenberg to watch Mexico v. Uruguay in a highly anticipated Group A matchup. That's all for now, but before we call it a night...here's a recap of tonight's Spain v. Honduras match at Ellis Park.

A long walk

Happy Fathers day to the dads out there on the blogosphere. Group 2 is here and things are moving quick.

We got in around 5 last night and found our way to the house. We enjoyed a few brews and za's and the local watering hole. We had just enough energy to acclamait ourselves with the South African brews.

This morning we woke up and went to the Apartheid Museum. . We were short on time, but i'm glad this was one of my first stops on the trip. To really understand a culture I feel we must understand their history. We got to see an in depth look as to how the racial tensions developed and the roles the the leaders of the time played through their policies. The divide can still be felt.

Following the tour, Manno unintentionally gave us a nice tour of the city.

But we have found our way back to the house and we are enjoying a bbq with some brews. Next stop is the Brazil Ivory Coast Game. Pictures, commentary to follow later on.

Game 4: USA vs Slovenia

Sorry for the delay, but we have been busy the last two days. Yesterday we attended the USA's second match of the group stage at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Ellis Park is the third stadium we have been to in 4 games. Thanks to Jonathan we had amazing tickets and sat with the player's families. The match did not start the way we had hoped with two Slovenia goals in the first half. After halftime the USA started off hot with a goal from Landon Donovan and continued to fight back until Bradley tied it up with 9 minutes left in the game. The five of us were going absolutely insane when Bradley tied up the match. The USA section exploded a few minutes later when we thought we took the lead with just a few minutes left. Unfortunately, the ref made a poor choice and disallowed the goal which ended the match in a draw. The crowd was disappointed and upset with the result, but excited that the team fought back to get a point. Later Friday night England tied Algeria and now we just have to win our third match versus Algeria and we will move onto the next round.

Below is a picture I took of a few of the guys with Captain America. The US fans were tremendous and we are all looking forward to the final game on Wednesday. When we get some more time I will try and put up a great video that Manno recorded at the game. The rest of the crew arrives in JoBurg tomorrow. Look for an update from them when they arrive.

Game 3: Argentina vs South Korea

Today we attended the Argentina vs South Korea match at Soccer City in Johannesburg. The stadium was filled with 84,000+ fans wearing their teams colors. To our surprise our Category 3 tickets, which usually land fans in the last few rows of the stadium, had us viewing the likes of Messi, Tevez, and Maradona from ten rows away. We spent the first half wearing t-shirts in the sun, but had to put our jackets and hats back on as the shade covered our seats and the temperature dropped. Below are a few pictures from the stadium that you might enjoy.

We spent the rest of our afternoon at the hotel of Team USA's family members. We went there to pick up our tickets for USA vs Slovenia tomorrow and spent a few ours with Mr. and Mrs. Spector and Olivia. We will be sitting in the USA section tomorrow and are looking forward to cheering on the boys.

Tonight we had two guests arrive, Pete and Greg, who will be staying with us for the next two days. We all decided to stay in tonight in preparation for the USA game tomorrow and watched France lose and essentially end its world cup run. What do you think about that Ave?

Look for more pictures and stories tomorrow after what we hope to be a victory for team USA.

Game 2: South Africa vs Uruguay

Last night we attended the South Africa vs Uruguay game at Loftus Field. Above is our pregame picture in our Bafana Bafana gear that we bought from the local street vendors. The four of us sat ten rows from the field behind the Uruguay bench and Lenny scored a last minute ticket in a suite. We enjoyed a lively bus ride with some locals and the atmosphere in the stadium was unlike any other I have experienced. Unfortunately Diego Forlan and Uruguay silenced the crowd with strong 3-0 victory.

The video below is just a taste of the atmosphere in the stadium before kickoff. I can only imagine what this stadium would have been like had South Africa won. Even with a packed house of 42,000+ transportation to and from the matches has been pretty smooth.

This afternoon we are going to see Messi and Argentina play Korea at Soccer City. Pictures, videos, and stories to come later....

Game 1: Netherlands vs Denmark

We attended our fist match at Soccer City a brand new stadium that holds 94,000 fans and will be host to both the Opening Ceremonies and World Cup Final. The picture above is from our seats (close to the last row). There is not a bad seat in the house! The vuvuzelas were loud, but we were lucky that the fans seated behind us did not have one. Unfortunately I don't think we will be as lucky tomorrow when we attend the South Africa vs Uruguay game. Those South Africans love their vuvzelas.

Above is a picture of the Budweiser party outside the stadium. The Dutch fans were out in numbers all dressed in orange. The passion the Dutch fans have for their team shows in the outfits they were dressed up in for the game. Hopefully when we attend the USA game on Friday we will see some of that same passion from the American fans.

After the game we picked up Manno from the train and headed out for the evening. We were supposed to meet up with Pato of AC Milan, but he bailed on us. However, members of the 1986 World Cup Champions Argentina were at the bar for an interview. Who knows who we will run into next.

The temperature has dropped, but the spirits are still high. We are all excited to experience the energy in the stadium with the locals cheering on the Bafana Bafana tomorrow night with a chance to advance.

For your viewing pleasure I have attached a picture of Greg, Taylor, Lenny and I with some hats made by local South Africans. Enjoy! More to come after the next game......

Home Sweet Home

The first group has arrived safely after a long but exciting flight. Last night Taylor's sister cooked us dinner and we watched the USA vs England with his family. Taylor sang "God Save the Queen" and told the England keeper he was "worthless." Things have gone smoothly, except Taylor forgot how to drive a stick shift car, got a flat tire and occasionally drove on the wrong side of the road. We are going to the Netherlands vs Denmark game on Monday and will update you then. Until then enjoy the games!

A great start, a little luck.

With the first couple days of the 19th FIFA World Cup underway, the festivities have lived up to the hype. South Africa scored the first goal of this year's tournament (vs. Mexico) and quickly followed it up with a cheeky celebration dance seen here.

France, led by Mr. Handball (Thierry Henry) and Sloth (Franck Ribery), played Uruguay to a rather uneventful draw –– even with Uruguay being a man down for the last ten minutes of the match.

In today's matches, South Korea put two away vs. Greece, Argentina could only get one on Nigeria...and Sam's Army (USA) survived a battle to tie England. Even though most analysts called for an easy win for England, the Americans managed to stay in the game thanks to a lucky bounce off of the opposing goalkeeper and incredible stops by Tim Howard.

With the first few members of our group touching down in Johannesburg right about...now, they'll be able to give you more of what to expect from here on out.

Next USA Game: June 18 @ 10 EST (ESPN)

Hot Off The Press

With the World Cup kicking off tomorrow and the first members of our group departing for South Africa I thought I would share some press about our trip and our good friend and USA National Team Member Jonathan Spector.

Pioneer Press - Trip Story

Pioneer Press - Q&A with Jonathan Spector

Chicago Sun Times - Spector Factor

Taylor, Greg and I will land on African soil Saturday June 12th. Stay tuned for stories, pictures, and updates as we explore World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

See the World (Cup) in 3D

In spirit of the World Cup, Google has put together a very cool 3D look at each city and stadium featured throughout the event. You'll be able to experience everything we will, minus the vuvuzelas.



(If the video is cut off, click here to open it in a new window)

2.

Only two days remain before the first whistle.

Following the opening match between Mexico and host country South Africa, known as Bafana Bafana, the first portion of our group will embark on the lovely trip to Atlanta and finally Johannesburg – or is that Ghana, Tom King?

So without further ado, let's take another look at another stadium that we will soon experience – Royal Bafokeng Stadium – located in Rustenburg, South Africa.














With a capacity (44,530) on the smaller side, Royal Bafokeng will play host to the USA vs. England game on Saturday at 1:30pm. For World Cup play, the stadium underwent a $48 million makeover for the tournament, an upgrade involving an enlarged main stand and new cantilever roof, floodlights and scoreboard. Our group was fortunate enough to get tickets for the Mexico vs. Uruguay match (6.22), so be sure to check back here often for some photos and maybe even video of Taylor shirtless singing his native chants. Stay tuned.















Did you know? The original construction was completely funded by the Royal Bafokeng community, who in 1999 won the legal right to 20% of the income from platinum mined on their land. Read more about Royal Bafokeng here.

Until next time...

The Boys The Boys

Look for us coming to a paper near you. The pioneer press had gotten wind of our trip and is planning a story. (WATCH OUT LEE DEWYZE)

In preparation of the trip we gathered to discuss the final arrangements and compliment one another. The paper sent a photographer out to grab a group shot. Check er out.

Look for the article on June 10 and be sure to save us some copies.

Missing from the photo is Mike Manno (obvious reasons) and Greg Reis

And this is probably what comes to mind when you look at the photo. So I just went ahead and embedded the video so you can save a trip to youtube.

7.

Now that we're down to a week (according to the countdown above), it's time to take a unique look at the stadiums that we will experience during our stay.

Johannesburg, also known as Jozi, Jo'Burg or eGoli, will be our home base for the first half of our trip. As one of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the world, Jo'Burg features two breathtaking soccer stadiums: Soccer City & Ellis Park.











Soccer City is currently the largest stadium in Africa with a capacity of 94,700. Featuring a design that was intended to resemble an African pot with a mosaic of fire and earthen colors with a ring of lights running around the bottom of the structure, simulating fire underneath the pot, Soccer City boasts that no spectator will be more than 100 meters (about 330 ft. for those of us in the Western Hemisphere) from the field. For more information on Soccer City, check out its official website here.















With tickets to see Brazil v. Ivory Coast (6.20) and Ghana v. Germany (6.23), we will be able to provide you with an exclusive look into the stadium itself.

Did you know? Johannesburg is the world's largest city not situated on a river, lake or coastline.

Check back soon for more stadium features...