Match Day + 4

It’s been 4 days since the FIFA Football World Cup Final in South Africa, and people are wondering, even questioning, if the feelings of euphoria and patriotism that built up during the previous month or so, can be maintained going into the future.

While we bask in the intoxicating adulation of the world, for pulling off hosting such a stunning sporting event, there are many people around the world who are also wondering if this was just a one-off fluke, or whether we can sustain the levels of organization, technical prowess and national team-work that went into making it all possible.

My personal involvement in the success of the event, leaves me in no doubt that there is an indomitable spirit that binds all South Africans together, whether we want to admit it or not. There is undoubtedly a willingness amongst all the different Peoples in this country to work together to build a wonderful country.

The problem lies not with the people; it lies with the political leadership of this country. Are they prepared to abandon the path of self-enrichment that they have brazenly adopted, and work towards true unity and equitable economic empowerment for all, or continue with their selfish, divisive and destructive ways?

Maybe the question that everyone should be asking is if the South African government will allow the euphoria to continue?

Hup! Hup! Ole!

Feel it, it is here! You’ve probably been assaulted by that cheesy line many times by now. The truth is, the end of the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup is at hand, and it’s hard not to feel something, even if it’s just plain indifference.

The finalists, Netherlands and Spain each have a life-long objective to achieve; Netherlands to finally win after reaching a final, and Spain to win a final on debut. This could be a classic final, to be cherished for a long time to come, or it could turn out to be a damp squib like the others over recent years. Even though both teams progressed to the final in a relatively inconspicuous or uninspiring fashion; one hopes that they have left the best for last, seeing as how the flashy brilliance from some of the more fancied teams, has gotten them nothing.

I’ve stood firm with my prediction that the Netherlands will get into the final and even go all the way to win. Although, I did predict that Spain would progress to the semi-finals, I did not expect them to get past Germany. So much for relying on form!

So, who is going to win?

There is an octopus called Paul, in the German city of Oberhausen, who has supposedly predicted that Spain will win the final. And there’s the octopus called Pauline, in the Dutch city of Scheveningen, who has also supposedly predicted that the Netherlands will win.

The thing is, an octopus cannot predict a winner and never will. The keepers of these two sea creatures in captivity, gave them a choice between two options, so they would always have a 50% chance of predicting the winner. Given the option between choosing either Spain or Netherlands and becoming Pickled Octopus, they would have chosen the latter 50% of the time. The other option in predicting a winner, is to consult a clairvoyant or similar scam-artist, which would leave you out-of-pocket and none the wiser; the octopus make a nice alternative and are more fun anyway.

Which means that there is no sure-fire way of knowing who is going to win. All you can do is pick the team you like and hope like crazy, they win.

I’ve chosen Netherlands…

What a Messi scorecard? 4-freaking-nil to the Germans

I’ve been right up there with that German octopus whose been predicting the outcomes of the German ties in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final being held in South Africa; however I’ve gone much further by predicting the exit of many other teams, most notably France, England, Italy, Portugal and the mighty Brazilians.

Argentina’s exit at the hands of the Germans may prove to be something of a relief to coach Diego Maradona, whose head was in danger of exploding from an overload of gross arrogance. There was a time when the hand of god helped them, but this time around they were handed what could probably be their most humiliating defeat ever, by Germany.

For a time there, the South American teams gave the world a lot to think about; what with all of them doing so well to progress into the next rounds of the World Cup at the expense of the European, African, American, Oriental, and Australasian teams. Suddenly however, there is going to be a lot of dejected travellers heading back West from South Africa, towards the South Americas. Uruguay is safe for now, having made it through to the semi-finals (no mean feat), but Paraguay face Spain tonight, and I fear they are also headed back home, come tomorrow. What’s happened to the South American Teams? Time enough to reflect after the World Cup is over!

In the interim, let’s celebrate the Netherlands who are still producing the goods; and I’m hoping that the Orange will be giving someone the Blues in the final of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup…

The World Cup in 3-D

I haven’t watched the film Avatar in 3-D yet, only the normal 2-D video. I can only imagine the audience reaction as the characters and assorted objects literally popped out of the screen. I think 3-D was created for, and is ideal for action films, but wait…

Although sport is filled with action (for the most part), you wouldn’t normally expect to watch it in 3-D. However, sport has not been spared the attentions of the 3-D aficionado’s at our sports broadcasting networks, and thus the 2010 World Cup football tournament is currently being broadcast for the time in glorious 3-D; around 25 matches at least.

I’m really lucky to be working as a Media Venue Manager on the FIFA project here in South Africa, and caught the first half of two games, in FIFA’s HD Cinema, located at the International Broadcast Centre (IBC), right next to the Soccer City stadium, host of the opening ceremony and final game.

Unlike action films which I suspect leaves one twisting and turning in one’s seat, dodging things popping out the screen, 3-D sport scenes really gives one the impression of being right there at the stadium. It’s the next best thing to actually sitting in the crowd. You get the feeling that you’re looking into a box with live persons performing inside. It’s utterly amazing, and I am now convinced that there is no other way to watch sport; most sports at any rate.

Having to wear those geeky-looking 3-D glasses over my own pair of spectacles is not exactly comfortable, but tolerable considering the unique opportunity I’m being accorded to watch for free. For those who don’t have those new 3-D TV sets that are now being sold everywhere (at huge cost), some of the games will be broadcast in selected cinemas around the world. I highly recommend taking in at least one game; it’s a truly memorable experience.

It’s a given that the technology will evolve and true 3-D TV sets which don’t require those pesky glasses will probably be commercially viable pretty soon. I’ve heard that we can expect to watch 3-D holograms of matches at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.