World Cup - Argentina vs. Greece

Aldo's family

The next day I work up feeling a little better and it was the 22nd of June. Argentina was playing Greece in a game that did not have a lot of bearing for Argentina as they were assured of top place in their group. It was however different for Greece as they had to win to stand a chance to qualify from the group stages. So even though I always support Argentina I was ok if they had fielded a weaker team and rested their star players and lost to Greece (also just for my good friend Phillipia).

Our cottage on the outskirts of Polokwane

Pre-game festivity

However I still had to get to Polokwane before that and Aldo suggested that we leave around 11am and get there around 2pm. I was ok with that and I took that opportunity to sleep in. After getting ready and packed up I sat down to chat with Aldo’s mother and sister who were having a sunny breakfast. It was interesting to see that she was not really into it the World cup. She was aware of the whole thing but seemed indifferent to it and mentioned that most White South Africans are more into Rugby and the Black South Africans into soccer. I had noticed this phenomenon first hand when the Springboks (as the SA rugby team is affectionately called) played, as most of the team was White while the soccer team that was playing in the World Cup was completely Black.

The sparkling new stadium

Greek supporters

It was interesting how different sports were associated with different races. Aldo and his friend (whom I later met on the journey) however were a little more into the world cup and had their own teams they were supporting even thought they still felt strongly for Rugby. It seemed to me that the younger generation was a little more interested in soccer than the generation before them. I wondered that with the sea change that SA was going through culturally after the apartheid and all the exposure than soccer was getting due to the World Cup, would soccer ever be considered as a mainstream sport by all South Africans.

I said good bye to Aldo’s mother and thanked her for her kind gesture of asking her son drop me to Polokwane and set out to Polokwane with Aldo in his truck. We drove down from the dolomite mountains into a small city called Tzaneen where Aldo had to run an errand at his friend’s gas station. The city itself seemed small but was at a significantly lower altitude and had a little more tropical feel to it as I saw a few banana plantations. We grabbed a quick lunch and continued up a different set of mountains toward Polokwane.

That same morning Joaquin and Geraldo had checked into a cottage about 50 kilometers outside of Polokwane and before parting ways a couple days ago we had agreed that we will share our habitation in Polokwane. Aldo dropped me off and proceeded to Polokwane where he was supposed to meet his girlfriend and suggested that he will be heading back home the next day just in case I wanted to get a ride with him back that way on my way towards Swaziland.


Kun Aguero


Before the game started we spent some time at the Quilmes bar (Quilmes is an Argentine beer and they had their booth set up at all the games featuring Argentina and where all the die-hard Argentine’s tailgated). Right beside the Quilmes bar was a FIFA Fan Fest center where they were showing the South Africa vs. France game. We decided to see the game on TV at a near by club house which was packed with South Africans supporting their team.

Di Maria taking a corner

 Di Maria & Messi

Although I had given up on the South African team making it to the next round, the team came out swinging and at one point had me believing that they would indeed beat the French by a 4 goal margin. It never happened but it was a fantastic effort by the host nation and I think they should be proud of the way they went out with their heads held high.

Palermo's goal




Police into action to clear us

 The Argentina vs. Greece game was fairly uneventful as the result did not matter to me or Argentina as they had already progressed to the next round as group toppers. Perhaps the best thing about this game was that that I had seats on the 3rd row right by the corner flag. I got some great sights of Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria, and Martin Palermo who celebrated right by the corner flag where I was sitting. It was hardly surprising when the 'man of the match' flashed on the giant screen.

I was sitting with a group of passionate Argentina supporters and it took the police a further hour to clear the section. Each time the police pushed the supporters back towards the exit gate, they somehow managed to creep back seemingly unwilling to end their celebrations. After the game we grabbed a late night bite at KFC store and headed back to the cottage knowing the next day I would be different. It was time to take a breather from the World Cup in South Africa for a while to check out neighbouring Swaziland.