I hope you have enjoyed reading this. I have enjoyed writing it and it will enhance my memory of a fantastic trip in the years to come. I have, of course, to thank my wife and kids for letting me go, and to John’s family similarly. You are all special people. I also have to thank John for putting up with me although in truth we get on very well and have gone through the whole World Cup experience together for the third time without a cross word ever having been spoken (and on the face of it without even having cross thoughts that remained unspoken).
The big issue before travel was security and I have deliberately not commented on this anywhere on this blog, until now! I didn’t want to tempt fate. I am now in the safety of an airplane so I can honestly say that at no time did we feel unsafe or threatened. I did have a bit of a bizarre incident at a cashpoint on the last morning and in the end I walked away as I was being confused by someone that was purporting to help me. I think he was genuine and just a poor communicator – at least I hope that is the case. Apart from that there were no issues while we were in SA. We were sensible, we locked the doors in the car, we didn’t stop at traffic lights in some areas and we took care of where we where and what was around us. In reality there didn’t seem to be a need to, the bottom line is that it felt safe. HOWEVER, on arrival home I found that my suitcase had been opened and ‘gone through’, I assume at Johannesburg Airport although I have no proof. The only things that were taken (I think) are two CDs, regrettably including the charity CD from SMYLE that I had bought on the last morning. This incident is a huge disappointment to me as I wanted to be able to report that we hadn’t been victims of crime but at the last minute that turns out not to have been the case.
I cannot determine why there has been such low crime during the event but I believe credit must be given to the South African authorities for their planning and execution of everything and to the South African people for going along with it and recognising the potential benefits. Yesterday on the radio an SA government minister thanked the South African people for their help and behaviour to date and said that there had not been a single security incident involving any visitor to the World Cup. Equally I believe the western press, especially the UK press, have scaremongered their way to the tournament through hyped up stories which have deterred many from travelling. Why did they ever think that football supporters would visit SA like lambs to the slaughter or that the SA authorities would stand quietly by and let that happen at a time when they were centre stage in the whole world? South Africa has a high crime rate and the problem is not solved forever, but so does Africa and so do many other cities in the world.
Although I don’t think they have got everything right I think Fifa’s decision to have the World Cup in South Africa was brave and has largely been vindicated. I think they have made mistakes in the ticketing policies and some other things but overall the tournament will be judged a success. The Fan Fests were also very different to in Germany but were a success for the local people so that counts for a lot. The biggest success is that it has encouraged people from all over the world to visit the country, not perhaps in the numbers first envisaged, but nonetheless in large numbers. They will leave educated and enriched in things that were previously hard to understand or learn about, and by their overall experience – just like us, and as I have described in this blog. And if football can bring the world together that is a good thing. South Africa showed itself to be ready and the training, organisation and service standards achieved were truly impressive – that will be part of the long term legacy. There is also the hope, from white and black alike, that the country will move through its current situation and achieve great things in the future. I hope so. 20 years ago it was a pariah state and now the world has knocked at the door and been welcomed with open arms.
We have been enriched culturally by this experience and have enjoyed every minute of every day. We loved the football, some games more than others, and most of the time the organisation hung together quite well. We met some great people, not just Ilse and Johnny and their team, Harrianne and Jonathan and their family and the others that I have mentioned specifically, but probably over a hundred people that we spoke with for a few minutes or longer. These were from SA, from competing countries like the USA, Slovakia and of course Japan, and non-qualifiers like Turkey, Canada, and Scotland.
There have been so many positives to this experience and almost no negatives. The biggest negative was the performance of the England team, but actually, as I have said, of many big European teams. England flattered to deceive again and I think it is true that the only countries that we beat in qualifying and the World Cup proper were new European states that didn’t exist independently until just over 20 years ago. It is a shame, and I am sure there will be a period of national heart-searching but we weren’t good enough and if you can’t beat Algeria then we are in more trouble than we might realise. The world order of football is changing and Asia and Africa will further develop. This tournament, I firmly believe, will be won by a South American country, probably Brazil or Argentina, and probably three countries from that continent (the above plus Uruguay) will make it to the semi-finals along with either Spain or Portugal. Given that South America is hosting the next competition there could be a while in the wilderness for England.
Finally, I should break the news to our wives that yes, we have already started contemplating our trip to Brazil for the 2014 competition.
Footnote. See above note on the stolen CDs. After my return I contacted SMYLe and Michael Rea was extremely helpful and offered to replace the missing CD - in fact he posted me both CDs which are great. Definitely one of the good guys and this is a lovely organisation with great objectives - if you are ever in Soweto or Johannesburg and have the opportunity to hear these kids play, or to donate to their work, (preferably both!) then please do so! All future strength to SMYLe!
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