The entire experience was rollicking, to say the least. Attending the game with 15 other white guys (all of whom, except for my friend who I came with, I had just met that day) was novel in itself. We were probably the largest single contigent of white folk at the game. This, combined with our loud and cheerful behavior, for some reason made us a hit in the parking lot/giant tailgate party before and after the game.
Yet we are not the important actors in this story. The crowd, all 92,000 of them, created an infectiously festive mood for the game. As we were stuck in traffic with thousands of other waiting to get into the parking lot, I got the first sense of what the day had in store. There were people dancing alongside traffic dressed in their team's gear, honking vuvuzelas, and joyfully interacting with the cars they passed. This carred on into the stadium and after the game as well. Not like many other countries where soccer games are tinged with violence both symbolic and literal, this was a respectful, yet highly competitive affair. While the soccer was exciting, the fans made the experience...
It's interesting to see the relationship between soccer and politics! This guy is urging you to make the right choices :)
Since I was ignorantly neutral entering the afternoon, I quickly made an arbitrary decision to support the Kaiser Chiefs. My cause was largely enhanced by a striking yellow Chiefs hat I bought outside of the stadium. Suddenly, I was on the team.
I quickly learnt that the peace sign was the proud signal of the Chiefs. The Pirates, on the other hand, were marked by a more aggressive (they are pirates!) crossing of the forearms into an X. These signs were to be happily flashed all day at both friends and "enemies" alike. More significantly, within an hour of supporting the team I was pledging my everlasting support for them through the phrase "Amakhosi for life!" As the afternoon wore on I was to be involved in some serious embraces where both myself and my embracer were "Amakhosi for life brother!" Needless to say I accepted these team symbols with gusto!
The stadium itself was the majestic Soccer City, where the 2010 World Cup Final was played.
and...
Below is a view from inside behind one of the goals where we sat. These seats, may I mention, were definitively NOT where our tickets told us to sit. However, we (and seemingly thousands of others), took are seat designations as mere suggestions. Myself and two others settled smack dab in the middle of Chiefs supporters behind the goal.
This is before the match commences
When the Chiefs scored on this goal during the first half, it was absolute mayhem. At this point I was completely dedicated to the cause, so when the ball was thumped into the back of the net I shot back my head to yell at the sky in jubilation, my fingers clenched in peace signs. Suddenly I was being hugged and high-fived from all sorts of folks in our section, all of us caught up in the mad frenzy only a goal in soccer can produce. And all from wearing a hat...The game ended 1-1, a last-gasp goal by the Pirates seriously deflating the Chiefs fans. But only on the walk to the parking lot, where again it was a positive atmosphere of teasing, laughing, drinking, dancing, and picture taking.
We exited on a high-note. Since we had all come in a mini-bus, with a driver who was a Chiefs fan and saw the game with us, we took to bumping loud House-like jams and rolling around the emptying parking-lot with the door open. As we passed people we would flash different signs to them (there was a mix of Chiefs and Pirates in the van!), occasionally get out and take pictures, and generally cheer for each other. This continued on the road as well. As we were still with our sliding-door wide open, we hooted and hollered with passengers from other passing cars, everyone enjoying the relative harmony and joy of the moment...
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