[Editor’s note: The latest installment in Coach Larry’s series of dispatches from South Africa takes us back to the dramatic USA v Slovenia game of June 18.]
After the easiest trip ever yesterday [June 17], which allowed for a quick 10 minute roulette session (single 0), today our hosts decide to switch it up. We are dropped in downtown Sandton to catch a shuttle, at any of many numerous stops, which will take us to another shuttle. We decide to leave early, as we hope to experience more of the atmosphere around this crucial match. The extra time proves useful, as no police or locals have any knowledge at all about the location of these bus stops. Within 30 minutes, the two of us now have 8 friends, all looking for “the stop for the shuttle to the shuttle to the park”. A couple of Germans, one wearing a Frings kit, wave down a minibus taxi instead. Nine of us pile in, the people already in it get out, and the driver agrees to take us all the way to the stadium.
Located much more in the city, say like Queens, the hills of Johannesburg prevent us from even glimpsing the light stanchions of Ellis Park before being dropped off.
A rough day for the USA where nothing ever materialized in their offense third, while Ghana exploited a less-than-convincing centerback pairing that’s been shaky throughout the Cup. The boys simply looked tired on two-days rest, and with the customary goal given up within the first ten minutes of play, the struggle proved to be too much.
[Final score: Ghana 2, USA 1
This weekend, the American team continues its fabulous march to destiny with a match against Ghana, the sole remaining Africans, in a meeting with uncomfortable hegemonic overtones, not that American fans give a shit. Here is a reductively short perversion of what both teams need to do to win the match.
