Stephen Alkin's World Cup Digest

Blog 11 – Pretoria July 1st 2010

Eoin Byrne and I took the shuttle from Durban to Johannesburg and on to our base camp in Pretoria in advance of our last game here, the juicy clash of South America and Europe as Paraguay take on Spain in Ellis Park, Jo’burg on Saturday night.

We said goodbye to Matt Holland, our companion for the previous five days. What a super guy he is: always dependable, always on time, always diligent. Eoin and I saw at first hand what Ipswich Town, Charlton Athletic and the Republic of Ireland got for those magnificent years of service. Matt is so neat and disciplined in everything he does and, most importantly, a gentleman to boot!

IT’S GAME SET AND MATCH TO ZVONEREVA AND SHE’S INTO HER VERY FIRST GRAND SLAM FINAL…

By Saturday night we will know the four semi-finalists. This is a world cup that has so many great teams playing at, or very close to, their best. Of the eight sides in the quarter-finals, only Uruguay, Paraguay and Ghana would be considered surprise winners should they go on and lift sport’s most famous trophy on Sunday week. All the others have reasonable claims that they have done enough to deserve the prize. It’s going to be fascinating to see who can hold their nerve when the stakes get highest.

SERENA WILLIAMS REALLY BEING TESTED BY THE UNSEEDED KVITOVA…

Before we go into that – and my predictions for the rest of the competition – may I make a few comments about South Africa, the country and the people. On this whistle stop tour I have been to Cape Town, Jo’burg, Port Elizabeth, Duban, Rustenburg, Nelspruit, Bloemfontein and Pretoria.

WHAT A SHOT BY KVITOVA, THAT VOLLEY WAS SO LIKE MARTINA NAVRATILOVA…

The diversity is staggering. The title ‘Rainbow Nation’ doesn’t do it justice. There are so many languages, eleven officially, and so many skin tones and ethnic mixes that to the outsider it’s almost bewildering. Add in the huge Portuguese influence from Angola and Mozambique; the Zimbabwe factor; the other near nations like Kenya, Lesotho, Swaziland etc and you realise that getting to know this amazing land in a short visit is impossible.

AND NOW A FEW UNFORCED ERRORS BY THE CZECH GIRL HAS ALLOWED WILLIAMS BACK INTO THIS…

When I met my old school friend John Robbie last week he recommended that I buy some books by Allister Sparks if I want to understand how this nation was formed and changed since the ending of apartheid. I have started reading “First Drafts – South African History in the Making”. It is a very liberal interpretation of the transformation of this country from its dark past to its current situation. From my point of view, and knowing very little about the politics here, I would say that this country has massive potential but…

I have been amazed by the amount of obesity I have seen, men and women, of all ethnic backgrounds. It would seem that South Africa is prey to the global processed food market just as we are back home. The plethora of massive food chains serving very western food is similar to Europe and North America. Despite the excellent climate this seems to be a big problem. Don’t ask me why I thought it would be different.

There is a very laid back attitude, especially in Port Elizabeth and Durban. Nobody seems to be in much of a rush. You can order a taxi and it will be late; the media shuttle buses don’t run to schedule – but they do run; the organisation and distribution of the food in the media centres is chaotic and completely oblivious to the fact that journalists, photographers and broadcasters all have deadlines.

SIX GAMES ALL – 1ST SET TIE BREAK

Inside the media bubble of a world cup it is difficult to see the countryside, one of South Africa’s greatest resources. What I have seen from the air has been spectacular and diverse. And there was that one amazing drive over Schoemanskloof on the road to Nelspruit. The wildlife and scenery will have to be discovered on another journey.

The massive difference between the haves and have nots is noticeable everywhere – but that is the same in most countries. What you see here is that nearly all of the menial jobs are done by blacks.

THE 1ST TWO SET POINTS SAVED, THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT THIS ONE IS ON THE WILLIAMS SERVE… GAME AND 1ST SET TO WILLIAMS 7-6…

The question I want answered is whether South Africa has changed sufficiently that the ethnic majority now have the opportunities to succeed in the professions, business, the arts, entertainment, sport, indeed all areas of society. That you cannot tell in such a short visit.

One thing is for sure, it is a great country to visit. And all the talk of security problems – something that I was very worried about before I came here – seems to be exaggerated. The government has spent a fortune ensuring that the 16,000 media working at the world cup are well protected. One wonders if you were to visit in a few weeks time if all the extra patrols would be on the streets. According to one of our taxi drivers in Durban, it’s all a show and things will return to ‘normal’ after 11 July.

What about those quarter-finals? Some unbelievable matches in prospect – every game has something to look forward to.

BRAZIL v NETHERLANDS
These two sides have been very efficient so far. In the style of Dunga and Van Marwijk both did enough to win their groups. Perhaps the Dutch were slightly better but in the round of 16 Brazil showed us that they can go up a gear. Arjen Robben is back and fully fit. He will be the Dutch ace – but Brazil have too much fire power with the likes of Maicon getting forward. South America will win this one.

URUGUAY v GHANA
Most people, if the bookies are to be believed, think that Uruguay are the favourites here. I don’t. Ghana have been brilliant in this world cup. They have a style and shape under their Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac. They play with a shape that is very modern, 4-2-3-1. Most importantly they keep their discipline right through every game. Some might say that they haven’t played anyone decent yet. But it took a wonder goal by Mesut Oezil for Germany to beat them, and in the last 16 they showed great patience in beating the feisty Americans.

Uruguay have also had an easy route. France weren’t up for it; they beat Mexico, South Africa and South Korea, none of them world beaters. Diego Godin is injured, a very important player for them. They are on the cusp of greatness and have Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez up front. But I fancy Ghana to keep Africa’s hopes alive.

GERMANY v ARGENTINA
What a game in prospect: the South American warriors against the efficient Germans. Both have given so much to the tournament: Germany only lost against Serbia because of the worst refereeing performance at these finals by Snr Undiano from Spain. Argentina has won every game with the style and brio one would expect from Diego Maradona himself. His presence has been awesome at this championship.

Germnay have the future in the present in their side. Oezil, Khedira and Mueller the young pretenders backed up by a spine including Per Mertesacker, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose. Argentina have the best attacking six in South Africa – but we haven’t seen their defence properly tested except when Mexico came back.

The neutral will want the Maradona road show to continue. I think Germany will get the better of his side because they have more balance and defensive solidity. Extra time may be needed here.

SPAIN v PARAGUAY
This is probably the easiest match to call. Spain were stunning against Portugal. They could and should have won 5-0. It was a master class of Barcelona-style football of the highest quality. Paraguay edged a terrible game on penalties against an average Japan. There is only one result possible here. It’s more a case of how many.

GAME SET AND MATCH TO MISS WILLIAMS, 7-6, 6-2.

So that will mean Brazil v Ghana next Tuesday and Germany v Spain next Wednesday – but whichever sides get through we are in for a wonderful finale to the 2010 World Cup.