This is being typed at 32,000 feet en route from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth. It’s Thursday, 17 June, and the World Cup is in its seventh day.
We are heading south to the coast and a Group D game between Germany and Serbia, a match that will tell us so much more about Germany than their opening fixture with the disappointing Australians.
Yesterday, after doing the Honduras v Chile game with Damien Richardson, we had the opportunity of experiencing the World Cup as fans. Loftus Versfeld Stadium, a venue more associated with the Springboks than Bafana Bafana, hosted the game between South Africa and Uruguay.
We are staying very close to the ground, a ten-minute walk away up the hill towards the suburb of Hatfield.
Along with our producer, Colm Magee, we went into Hatfield to savour the pre-match atmosphere. The yellow-clad, vuvuzela-blowing, manic fans were there in their thousands. Hatfield Square had a huge screen and you could feel the temperature rising as we got nearer to the 8.30pm kick-off.
Being accredited broadcasters gives us the opportunity of getting Observer Seats, a small number of tickets available to people not directly working at the game.
We arrived quite early and met George Hamilton, Ray Houghton and Mark Mckenna – RTE’s commentary team for the game – in the Media Centre.
Poor George is injured. It has nothing to do with his voice or his ability to type, write or hold a microphone. The poor man has had several accidental collisions with a badly placed door jam in his room. The second toe of his left foot is black and blue!
Now Damien Richardson is very sharp and he reckoned that colliding with this object the first time was a mistake, the second time was careless, and the third time was just plain daft! Of course Damien’s language was more flowery than that – but I can’t repeat what he said here.
The experience of hearing the crescendo of vuvuzelas as the teams entered the arena was mind-blowing. The protection of the heavy headsets that we normally wear at matches to hear the talkback from our Dublin studio and to set the levels of ourselves and the crowd noise was absent for once. They say it’s as loud as a jet aeroplane taking off, an indoor rock concert or the high-pitched squeal of a grand prix car. I can now believe it!
I am not a fan of the infernal vuvuzelas. The character created by the opposing supporters at a football game is unique. The chants are drowned out by the incessant drone. It homogenises the experience of ‘being there’ to such an extent that it renders those that have travelled thousands of miles to support their teams redundant.
Take the wonderful Dutch fans for example: they usually have a brass section in the crowd that creates its own individual sound. If these infernal plastic noise machines are allowed to take over, all that character will be lost. We need to start a campaign – ban the vuvuzela at a ground near you!
Poor Bafana Bafana. They played like Banyana Banyana (The Girls, the Girls - the nickname of South Africa's women’s team). How disappointing for any World Cup when the host country is so outclassed. It’s always better for the tournament if they can stay in the tournament until the latter stages.
This evening, when we arrived in Port Elizabeth (PE), Damien couldn’t find his credit cards. He was sure they were in his wallet. You know that sinking feeling when you lose something, especially miles from home - it can be very distressing.
Well, thankfully, we just found out that they are in his safe back in our base hotel, the Courtyard Arcadia in Pretoria. Jamie Macken, one of the producers in our group, was able to check it out and we can all go to bed in more relaxed fashion knowing that all is well.
I have moved on to the Media Centre beside the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in PE. This town makes its living from the huge port and from tourism. It was asleep for the winter and thousands of fans and journalists invade it for the eight matches it will host.
However, the locals don’t seem to have woken up to the fact. When we arrived at the airport last night there were no taxis to greet the flights coming in from all over South Africa. The place is like a cross between an English coastal town and a Spanish resort. Beyond that I can’t comment as our stay here is all too brief.
Serbia will offer us a better understanding of the strength of the Germans. The three-time winners were at their imperious best against the pitiful Australians. If they can produce similar quality against a side that won a group including France and Romania, then we will know that Joachim Loew’s side can go all the way.
Whatever happens, watch it all on RTÉ Two and RTÉ.ie.
