Getting Home – No Easy Task!

Hard to believe that one day I could say that “I had dinner in Joburg while watching Italy desperately trying to avoid an early trip home, followed by breakfast in Cairo watching Japan show why they belong in the top 16, next lunch in Paris seeing Brazil and Portugal provide soccer magic and finally, dinner in Paris with Spain convincingly defeating Chile on a wall-size screen… triple”

WOW! Lippi, Italy’s coach, claims to be responsible for his boys making “reservations for dinner in Rome for Friday evening.” The truth is Slovakia deservedly beat Italy because La Forza Azzurri put their hopes in a squad with too many senior players… good experience but not enough fitness and hunger to keep up with youth and desire. Ciao Italy.

I stand in line for 90 minutes to find out the plane for Cairo leaves from a different gate. South Africans do not change their procedures and definitely do not break hierarchical protocol… until I shared my view on common sense. Is a good thing somebody is watching over me. Explaining that Vivis was waiting for me to watch World Cup games I convinced the guy responsible for unlocking the airline booths to walk me directly to ticket counter where I got an aisle seat. I pulled my last AYSO shirt and gave it to my guardian angel. Within the last 20-25 minutes before arriving in Cairo, I got to see the pyramids, the ones from Giza and a few more from the plane, awesome!

The world was expecting Japan to play defensively and go for a tie but not Mr. Honda and his teammates. The world now knows there are two Hondas, the one you can drive and the one that drives an entire nation into the top 16 and World Cup history. I got a couple of Egyptian souvenirs and boarded the plane to Paris.

Once I secured a room for the night, I headed for central Paris, Saint Mitchell plaza where all the restaurants have great food and more importantly today, were showing the game. Kaka did not

play, Portugal could not score, but Brazil controlled the game and both teams provided exciting plays and a good show. Two glasses of Sangria and a chocolate crepe later, I went for a walk, getting more souvenirs and finding a good place for dinner. Escargot was in my original plan but I just could not order them! I settle for good French onion soup, French beef pot roast and apple tart pie (yummy).

I decided to go into the restaurant with the biggest wall size TV screen to watch Spain slowly but effectively maneuver its game against Chile. Chile earned the World Cup spot based on good, solid soccer but La Furia Roja executed a technical plan supported by highly technical players who maintained possession and frustrated the Chileans. The only negative point came in the last three minutes when Spain played in their own half and Chile would not cross the halfline… not entertaining soccer.

The evening was young so I went for another walk and I missed the last train to the airport… ooopppsss! Sometime around 1:30 a.m. with the help of Joanna and husband Nacho, their friends Fatuma and “El Gringo” I made it to Gare del East where I catch a bus to the airport. Immediately, I asked for a wake-up call. The next morning, I spend two hours in line to be told you have to go to Terminal A, a 15 minute walk. With an hour and a half until departure (not good for international departures in foreign countries) I looked around for an angel but found none… well not right away. After a looong walk, 2 pounds less (water weight loss) and a few stops to ask if I was moving in the right direction, I see the line for my flight check-in – there was no way I would make it with about 75 minutes before departure.

It was time to apply creative travelling experience so I went to the shorter line for business and first class passengers. I asked, “Do you have space in business or first class?” and all I heard was, “Excusez-moi, je ne comprends pas?” Oh, oh!! I keep explaining, well begging, and the young lady (my next angel) decides to give me my boarding pass, an aisle seat in the first row of coach – great seat! I watched a few movies, ate good food, took a short nap and next thing you know… I’m home! Long, but exciting trip home. I immediately asked and found out we lost against Ghana – more on this later.

Ke Nako – It is time!

Good morning from the Aero Guest Lodge where I’m having my last cup of tea before I head out to start my trip back home. Yes there are conflicting emotions… I really enjoy A&A/Kris friendship but I miss home, I want to watch in person the US/Ghana, Mexico/Argentina and England/Germany games, but I want to watch World Cup games with Viviana.

A special thanks to Annabe and Adrian for taking care of me as family does and to Kris for allowing me to share my futbol passion with him… I suspect they will be visiting me in Artesia, California.

For my last night at the lodge, A&A gave me their best room with tub and everything, wow as they had to sleep up in the attic. However, in the morning the lights kept shutting off and on… perhaps Adrian’s way of letting me know it was time to leave the room so they could get it ready for the next guests.

I started out this trip ready to embrace South Africa, and I’m leaving having had South Africa embraced me through its people, always smiling, always helping out and always offering their warmth and caring attitude… it is great! Then there are the different people from different countries you meet with a common passion for the World Cup, with expert opinions on everything from which team formation to use to what to do with the players that miss scoring opportunities or provide them for the opponent with their errors.

All of this made for a wonderful experience that I will continue to value as the years go by. It took a lot of people to bring the World Cup to South Africa, but I’m glad that Mr. Blatter started the notion and Mandela sealed the deal when he joined the South African delegation and shared his passion for his country and his continent when he connected with the World Cup committee. Giving us a World Cup in Africa, once in a life time experience! My return trip will take me through Cairo, Paris and then to L.A. to get work done at the office and get ready for the National Games in Florida. We will continue to share our observations of the World Cup games via this blog from other exotic locations and try to provide interesting and fun information that can generate passionate discussion about the World Cup in South Africa.

Torture Your Fans and then Win

My luck continues in South Africa, and this morning I connected with the driver who was picking up four Americans at the airport, bringing them to A&A’s place, and then taking two of them to the USA Algeria game. So of course I tagged along for the ride, and the Americans were the same guys that went with me to the USA/Slovenia game and the driver, Ralze, was the same one who gave us a tour of the area around Ellis Park Stadium and before picking them up, he gave me and my Mexican friends a tour of the parking facility at the airport.

We left the hotel hoping to get there early enough to enjoy the stadium atmosphere. The area around the stadium was covered with red, white and blue in every direction—flags, painted faces, scarves and of course, thousands of U.S. National Team jerseys. The passion for the game was so intense that a couple of my friends and I gave it a shot and sang our National Anthem, which was overtaken by the thousands of people singing – a very good thing.

As tortures go, watching our team come very close to elimination from the World Cup ranks high up there with the worst of the worst tortures known to mankind. The boys played good soccer, creating several scoring opportunities including three in front of the goal in the first half and four more in the second half but could not put the ball in the net during the 90 minutes. The torturing started with Djebbour hitting the crossbar in the sixth minute!

Then we scored a goal to be nullified because of offside… it was close and if I check the video it may have been a good goal. When your team creates a lot of scoring opportunities but keeps missing them, you start thinking about how it will just take one or two quick counter attacks from the opponent for them to score the winning goal. it happens a lot in soccer. Then, Algeria’s Yahia gets send off within the first minute of added time, and Algeria loses composure and concentration enough for us to push one final attack, and to have Donovan score and release the emotional outburst throughout the stadium from all of us and many people from other countries which were supporting our team… just in time to prevent a heart attack!

In other news, England won and moved on. This was good because Adrian was happy and managed to find me a room for tonight – I was going to sleep on the couch in the lobby because the hotel had a lot guests checking in today. Just another great day at the World Cup in South Africa!

Friends Connect Friends

Kris invited me to the press conference with the referees, so I went along hoping to chat with my friends. It was supposed to be difficult as I’m not a member of the FIFA approved media/press. Kris has a good sense of direction which helped us find the high school as it was not clearly mapped on the GPS. I made it through the first gate as Kris’s assistant. Then, I was stopped at the next check point, so I spend time waiting in the car. Tried again later and was lucky to find my friend Armando Benito Archundia who was not participating in the mixer with the press. As in the last couple of World Cups, the referees review the critical decisions and discuss reasons for both making the right ones and the unfortunate ones. Then, they share options to consider in player management as well as 100 percent misconduct where the yellow or red card must be shown. Armando and the rest of the officials seemed very relaxed and a lot of it has to do with how the FIFA World Cup Referee Committee takes a mentoring approach to dealing with referees issues… a much different and nicer approach than 20-30 years ago. This is another great thing about World Cup – my friend Kris helped me connect with my friend Armando.

Culture & Coaching Challenge

Happy Father’s Day from South Africa. My clothes are washed and dried – thanks Annabe. I planned half of my day… very unlikely for me. If you know me, you know that I get a bit passionate about soccer… and I love experiences where people project their passion through what they do. The plan included seeing African Footprint a musical/dancing show that shares South African history. With little or no props, but a lot of dancing talent, amazing energy and a wonderful story flow, the show generates a great connection with the audience. It has music from African musical instruments, African dances portraying the history from the birth of Africa to the influence of Gumboot and Tap dancing to the artistic Pantsula dance. If you ever get a chance to see it, don’t miss it! The show is over and I buy a shirt, a cap and a program – they ran out of the wine bottles (too bad).

I went to the Sports restaurant and watch the second half of the Italy-New Zealand game. Later, I watched Côte d’Ivoire play like the Brazil from the 1970s in the first half, and then Brazil take control of the game once they bring out the Samba futebol rhythms. There have been a few more officiating errors which have impacted the outcome of games and several underdog teams are doing great against the power house teams. All of this has created a very close race for moving to the next phase and several teams still have a chance, even some with just one point like Slovakia. This makes for a better World Cup for the fans; however, there are some teams that are starting to pack their bags.

Cameroon is numerically out and France has a lot of internal issues. Some teams will have to play a third game with little or no chance to qualify for the next phase and the coaches have to find a way to influence their motivation so they can deliver the right game… a challenging task for some. The principles aka AYSO Philosophies that we share with our coaches could come in handy for some of the World Cup coaches. Positive Coaching generates a lot of support from players for the coach and makes them want to give 100 percent every time. In AYSO, we say that it’s about more than the game and at the World Cup it sure is true. While most World Cup players put their best effort for their country, a few will find it difficult to get up for that third game, missing one of the best opportunities in their lives. AYSO coaches do not deal with World Cup players but they sure influence thousands of kids into playing every weekend, feeling like if it was a World Cup!

Another TV Watching Day...

Good morning, I need another easy day so I’ll work on my computer, watch games on TV and later tonight go out for dinner with A&A and Kris. At the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, Holland defeated Japan in a so-so game. Back home, it was not the game you get up early for.

Japan played a very disciplined but defensive game in the first half and most of the second half making it challenging for Holland to create opportunities for shots. In the 53 minute, Sneijder puts the ball in for Holland and Japan started to attack more. It makes for better soccer. Nakamura, former international, and Holland’s Eljero Elia came and gave us more exciting plays but the score stood in favor of Holland.

To get ready for Ghana vs. Australia, we played a couple of ping pong rounds and Adrian let us score a few points but then put us away… nice sandbagging to let the guests feel good. Ghana could have secured their pass to the next phase but instead got in trouble early when Australia scored in the 10 minute. A few minutes later, with a great call, the referee gave a penalty kick to Ghana and a red card to Kewell (Australia) for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity as he handled the ball. He intentionally made himself bigger by extending his arm to play the ball. Then Ghana could not find a way to score against 10 players. Now, they have tie or defeat Germany who by tradition, gets better from game to game.

Too many, including me, Cameroon was supposed to play exciting, good

soccer and move to the next phase. They played exciting soccer but fell to Denmark 1 to 2 and now they are leaving the World Cup after their next match. Eto’o who was now playing in his best position, up front, scored the first goal within 10 minutes, painting a picture of hope and exciting things to come. Twenty-two minutes later Denmark’s Bendtner score a great goal to tie the score and now Denmark is starting to dictate game flow and control. By halftime, both teams had missed several opportunities to score the second goal, providing exciting soccer. At the 61 minute, Denmark’s Rommedahl got the winning goal and then they just defended against Cameroon’s persistent attacks on goal that kept missing every opportunity. Now Cameroon needs to find the courage and strength to deliver their best performance in their last game against Holland before they say good bye… I have no doubt that they will.

Dinner was great! We made our way to Tribes, a South African restaurant with great food at the Cesar Emporium casino. Our waiter described the menu items in such exquisite and tantalizing way that it became difficult to decide what to order. Kris had his mind on the biggest steak he could find but Annabe went for the prawns which look more like shrimps on a diet… but I’m sure they tasted good. For me, Ostrich Sausage appetizer and Kudu (cousins with deer) steak, which were very tender and delicious. Adrian got the Warthog and we share around the table so we could taste all of the exotic items. Then Adrian pulled a “Tom” and told the waiter that it was my birth date… soon waiters surrounded our table, playing drums, singing and smiling. I got to celebrate my African birth date with great friends, a wonderful way to end the day.

Referees are Human – Good Mantra

Yes from everyone’s perspective, the referee made an incorrect call on our team’s third goal. There were blue shirts being pulled by the defenders, at least one of our players was being strongly hugged and not necessarily out of love. It would have been easy and accepted by Slovenia and the whole world to let the goal stand. However, in the referee’s opinion, he saw a foul committed and he decided to call it before the ball was kicked into the net. So I give him the benefit of the doubt and even if he made a mistake, he remains human.

My day started out very lucky when I walked out of my room and by the hotel lobby—there was taxi with two USA fans with the faces painted ready to go to the game, and they said, “Good morning Tom. Yes you can tag along.” Our driver decided to use a shortcut which actually took longer as we went all around Ellis Park. The benefit – we got a short tour of the area. Walking to the stadium with hundreds of Americans, I enjoyed the food stands, the sidewalk vendors, the competition - people selling tickets and I had one to unload. I made an effort, not much, and eventually gave the ticket to Christian who followed me hoping I give him the ticket. He made it to the security checkpoint and said, “Thank you but I will go into the stadium later,” which meant he went to sell the ticket. Five minutes before the game started, Kirk, a compatriot who has been in South African working on development projects for the last three years, joined me and when I asked he said, “You don’t want to know how much I paid but I paid local cost. I had bought tickets for this game but I gave them to a visiting U.S. family. And now I have a better seat!” Everyone won today… I got my tickets from a coworkers parents, Christian got some money, the visiting family got to see the game, and Kirk ended up with a good seat and we all enjoyed the game – this is what World Cup soccer is about!

Now I hope the good mantra goes to our team when they face Algeria who is looking very good. We quickly got back to the hotel, got some work done and prepare to watch the last match of the day, England vs. Algeria. In the common TV room, we had several Americans, one in particular whose strong, unfounded opinions made Adrian go watch the game in his room and my friend Kris stay quiet for the whole game. Me, I just go with the flow and try to share. By halftime, I had purchased a ticket for the USA vs. Algeria game so I’m happy. After the game. Kris and I visited the casino to unwind a little and listened to a guitar player/singer perform Carlos Santana and classics from the 60s. We discussed the England-Algeria game without the expertise of our friend back in the hotel and took a taxi back to the hotel. A pretty good day for me… well there is never a bad day for me.