Goalkeepers in White....

Leading on from yesterday..... last night I went to the Cape Town International Airport to pick up Barry, a former player of mine who is on a crazy three-week tour of Africa. He's spending a couple of days with us here in Cape Town before moving on to Johannesburg to catch a couple more games there. Later in the evening we spent a few hours on Long Street in the center of town. Mike was quite put out by the chanting of a handful of Paraguay and Brazilian fans at the restaurant. I had to explain to him that this was child's play when compared to what he should expect from the invading England fans as they arrive for Friday's match with Algeria....! It's likely that, by Thursday, Cape Town will be "taken over" by thousands of reveller's from the country of my birth....
Earlier on Sunday we saw the Germans dispatch the Australians with consumate ease, and this perhaps was the reason why we slept peacefully this morning, as our Aussie hotel-mates returned with tails between legs....
Due to some uncooperative weather we decided that today would be a low-key day, and after lunch we spent a few hours wandering through the Victoria & Albert waterfront - an area very reminiscent of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. In the centre of the area, there was a "spectator zone" where the games were being shown live on an enormous screen. It was here that we saw about sixty-minutes of a decent game between Japan and Cameroon.
We returned to the hotel with enough time to layer-up and head down the main street to Green Point Stadium for our first live game of the trip, Italy vs. Paraguay. The interesting thing to see as we walked to the stadium was the massive amount of diversity in the crowd. Instead of being a sea of Italian and Paraguay colours, the crowd was a mixture of every possible replica shirt, flag, banner, and funny hat. Once inside the magnificent structure it was more of the same. A small concentration of Paraguay fans in the section to our right-side was the only sign of any concentrated support. Looking around at the flags, we actually counted more St. George crosses than any other..... Having grown up in England this was a strange sight for me. Simply put, "neutrals" rarely go to matches over there - you're either there to support the home team or the away team, and you wear your colours accordingly....
On to the game, and despite a positive start, this was clearly a much-changed Italian side from the one that triumphed in 2006. Cannavaro is a quality player, but beyond him it was difficult to pick anyone out as having that little bit of class to turn a game. Perhaps the most disturbing sight was seeing Gianluigi Buffon, the Italian goalkeeper, take to the field in all-white, with contrasting black tights. Call me old-fashioned, but what self-respecting custodian wears all-white??? Interestingly, Buffon was substituted at half-time, and we speculated that he'd retained too many grass stains on his immaculate white kit...
The Italians, in a 4-5-1 formation actually controlled the early parts of the game and it seemed a matter of time before they opened up Paraguay for the first goal. But, instead they began to sit deeper and Paraguay started to create chances of their own. From a free-kick late in the first-half the Italians conceded a headed goal from Alcaraz and the teams went into half-time with Paraguay firmly in control.
The swirling wind and rain continued into the second-half, with Paraguay now seemingly content to defend their slender lead. The Italians huffed and puffed without creating too many chances until the introduction of a couple of substitutes and a tactical change. It was a corner that eventually unhinged Paraguay as the goalkeeper flapped at the ball and a gleeful DeRossi nipped in at the back post to score..... Buoyed by the goal the Italians continued to press in the final stages and could have scored a winner with a little more luck. However, overall, the efforts by both teams merited a draw and neither team could have too many complaints.
The noise inside the stadium was deafening at times, not from cheering and singing, but from the hugely popular (and occasionally nauseating) Vuvuzela horns that are being sold in massive numbers all over the country. It was nice to see both anthems duly respected by both sets of fans. I can only hope that my fellow countrymen do the same on Friday.....
No specific plans for tomorrow as yet - perhaps a visit to Robben Island, or across to the Stellenbosch region for a vineyard tour.....