Bulls On Parade: Inside Soccer City For The Final

Kris Fernandes (kris@insidesoccer.ca)
is a Toronto based soccer & futsal writer for Inside Soccer Magazine. Deeply immersed in soccer fandom and culture, he has been actively involved in spreading the love of the beautiful game in a uniquely Canadian way for a decade through media coverage, administration and coaching. He covered the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and the 2008 UEFA European Championships from Austria/Switzerland for both CBC Sports Online and ISM.

It was ugly – 11 yellow cards and an expulsion – but they got the job done. Spain have finally shed the the underachievers label and have joined the champions club.

Spaniards on the pitch and in the stands were tearing it up like the bulls in Pamplona after Andres Iniesta scored the clincher in the 16th minute. It was a clinical finish in a game that was marred by shoddy officiating – yet again – and numerous missed opportunities from both squads.

The night opened up with a giant standing ovation for former South African President and iconic humanitarian, Nelson Mandela. He waved to the 84,490 in attendance at Soccer City for a good few minutes. Turning 92 next week, Mandela was a little hard to distinguish from high up inside the stadium unil one spotter pointed out that he was wearing a black furry hat usually reserved for Russian military personnel in Siberia (Though it must be pointed out that it was freezing in Johannesburg). After he was carted around the pitch we were told he was flown back by helicopter to watch the match at his house.

After Mandela flew the coop, it was on to the pre-game festivities which was opened up by the always incredibly sexy Shakira, who sang the official World Cup theme song Waka Waka. The subsequent lightshow almost gave me a seizure as blue and red rays zapped across the stadium as traditional African music and dance took centre stage. The most unique and enjoyable performance was from a group that dressed in large white elephant costumes. It was a look into the future as Soccer City and other stadiums built for this World Cup will likely become white elephants themselves when the circus leaves town.

The crowd was definitely pro-Dutch as fans bought up all the orange-coloured knockoff merchandise outside. The seats were also orange, the colours of the on field security stewards were orange and with constant chants of HUP HUP HOLLAND, it just felt like the game was in Amsterdam.

When 2006 World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro placed the World Cup Trophy on a pedestal near the entrance tunnel, an idiot posing as a fan ran onto to the pitch towards the coveted statue and was mere inches away from grabbing it and even attempted to throw a red hat on it before a security guard viciously clotheslined him to the ground. The crowd loved the effort but one has to think why did he do it before the game and not after? You just missed the World Cup Final man!

I noticed a pair of Canadian flags tonight; one hung up in the top deck and the other being waved by a proud Canuck in the front row, way to land that ticket! A good friend from Bradford, Ontario, John Barroso also attended the match. John has travelled to countless tournaments with his giant flag proudly boasting his home city.

Fans were on the edge of their seats as Spain dissected Holland for the first 20 minutes, almost scoring with three minutes. Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg – spell that after a couple of pints – seemed to have more touches on the ball than any of their midfielders as Holland felt content to pass the ball back to him everytime they had it.

One has to wonder if Germany had made the final, would the Mexican/Canadian referee trio that called the 3rd place game have been selected for this match? Benito Archundia, the most hated ref in Canada, or the man at the helm today, Howard Webb? Pick your poison. A ridiculous 5 yellow cards given out in the first 30 minutes. It was definitely a chippy affair that Webb failed to control throughout the match.

Both goalkeepers, Casillas and Stekelenburg, saved the day for their respective team’s and it’s likely that after the match Casillas will be given his own island along with riches meant for the Sultan of Brunei for his contributions and accomplishments to Spanish soccer. The really scary thing is that he is only 29 years old! Goalkeepers are traditionally starting to come into their own at that age and yet Iker – as the fans affectionately chant at every match – has already won a pair of Champion’s League titles, a FIFA World Youth Cup (Now known as the U20′s), the European Championship (2008) and now he has to find space on his mantle for the World Cup Trophy. He may go down as the greatest goalkeeper of all time when he is done.

With the shock of seeing countless sure-goals missed withstanding, the game was quite boring to watch. Sergio Ramos, in particular, should have headed home the winning goal in the 2nd half. It felt like you were watching your buddies play a really bad game of FIFA 2010 on your Playstation.

When it went into extra time everyone more or less sighed, fearing another penalty shootout like in Germany. There was a collective AWWWWW! from the crowd when Cesc Fabregas missed that breakaway and surely the dreaded penalties were on the way… but alas, Andres Iniesta struck gold and, as the kids say, the Spanish fans went buck wild. The bulls on the pitch were parading mere minutes after as a new champion was crowned, a well deserved champion too.

Another fan tried to run onto the pitch to celebrate with the team but was quickly taken down, WWE style. Spain then headed towards the stage, which was in the stands this time around. It was a lousy move by FIFA to have it there as an easy 25,000 fans missed out on the ceremony. A more logical solution would have been to out it in the middle of the pitch for all to watch.

Many of the Spanish faithful flooded the front rows of their sections, crying and chanting for Casillas and Iniesta for quite a while after the game and then were off to drink up in the city for the night.

In the end, the best team in the tournament won playing an captivating style of soccer and despite the Dutch making an incredible run, their brilliant fans here in South Africa made it a highly enjoyable tournament from start to finish.

After being fortunate enough to have covered 13 games at this World Cup I am off to hang with the fans for one great last night of camaraderie, drinks, and of course, plenty of World Cup banter. Not a bad way to end it all.