USA vs. Algeria A.K.A. Pure Insanity

Now this is why I love soccer! I never thought I would feel any feeling more crazy than the USA's win over Portugal in 2002 to start their dream run into the Quarterfinals of that tournament. But the USA-Algeria game was even more intense.
Before the game I felt that the USA had to win to go through. But with so many opportunities blown by the USA had in the first half it looked like it might be one of those days.

And the fans could feel the pressure building as well.
With Dempsey missing goals and hitting the woodwork and several chances going for naught, as the game got past the 80th minute it looked like a World Cup with so much promise for Team USA was about to come to a disappointing end.
And the USA fans stood waiting for the improbable to happen.

And then late in the game Donovan made a run, passing the ball to Altidore, and getting it back in a scramble in front of the goal mouth to put the ball into the net. 1-0. From the depths of despair to the heights of ecstasy in the matter of a second.
It was absolute insanity in the stands...

And when the game was called the team went crazy.
Altidore was beat up but enjoying the moment.
And the teammates were hugging everywhere.
And the screams of joy...
And chants of USA rang throughout the stadium during a pure moment of Insanity and pure joy..
Some fans stood in disbelief.
While everyone else enjoyed the moment.
A fairy tail ending to a difficult first round of the World Cup.


Even the Algeria fans gave a thumbs up to the USA's efforts.
And the cheering went on long after the game was over.
And the party continued on and on.
What else can this team do? Moments like the USA vs. Algeria game are why I fell in love with the World Cup and is why I will always be at every World Cup. It is indeed the beautiful game.

My Elephant Sighting, A.K.A. Ivory Coast vs. Brazil

I was excited to photograph Brazil playing Ivory Coast at Soccer City on Sunday night, but I ended up being fascinated following an elephant. In 2006 I just assumed that Brazil would make it to the semi-finals and I would have plenty of time to take photographs of their fans. When they were eliminated by France I missed my chance. I thought the Brazil fans would be crazy and fun and intense, but at Soccer City they were rather mellow and besides a few samba players were not really vocal. So I ended up walking around the stadium and followed the trials and tribulations of the Ivory Coast fans that made the trip to South Africa.

A group of about 50 Ivory Coast fans entered the stadium and two of them helped escort the "The Elephant of Ivory Coast" to his seat. It must have been really hard to walk in that outfit and unfortunately the fans did not know exactly where they were seating. They went up and down two ramps and around half the stadium before they found their seats.

Meanwhile the Brazil fans found their seats, with their eyes solely on the grand prize: The Copa del Mundo trophy.
As I wandered back to see how the Ivory Coast fans were doing I came upon a surprise. They had been kicked out of their seats and were standing behind them unsure what to do. A lot of confusion reigned supreme because the Ivory Coast fans only spoke French and they had to wait to find someone else who did. Luckily one of the volunteers at the stadium did and the story unfolded:
Apparently the fans had all bought their tickets individually and had ended up with tickets all over the stadium and not together. One of the volunteers explained to me that you need to buy the group tickets to ensure you are all together. There ended up being a lot of finger pointing and upset Ivory Coast fans with drums and costumes unable to cheer on their team. They spent about 20 minutes trying to find seating together but eventually it became clear that it was a hopeless pursuit and they ended up drifting off to their own seats leaving the lonely Ivory Coast elephant all alone by himself, as his costume was too large to fit him into one seat. And after going down 2-0, the poor elephant had little to cheer for...
I wandered off again and was looking for more crazy Brazil fans but only ended up finding this skirmish of fans after Brazil scored their third goal. Not sure what it was about but I believe the action in the stands was more fun then on the field in what ended up being a rather easy game for Brazil to win.

I went back to see how the lonely Ivory Coast elephant was doing and got there right when Drogba scored a goal for them to give them one back. Several people standing near the elephant patted him on the shoulder in appreciation...

And the Ivory Coast elephant gave out one quick roar for this one moment of happiness for him.

But as expected, the Brazilians won, and partied out of the stadium having qualified once again for the second round. It seemed like the Brazil fans were really holding back their celebratory "guns," having come to expect to get this far and looking forward to partying harder when they get further in the tournament.
And for the South Africans, the party hopefully will continue as well, as will the call of the Elephant, er, I mean the vuvuzuela!!!

USA vs. Slovenia

Now that was a crazy game to remember. I was looking forward to the USA game vs. Slovenia. A win and advancing to the second round looked like a safe bet. A loss and kiss the USA goodbye.
I started out the day photographing some USA fans that were meeting up at a bar about 4 miles from the stadium. It was great to see a place full of American waiting for the game and partying it up. Getting faces painted or ignoring the street hawkers outside while drinking some local brew.
At half-time of the first game of the day a bunch of USA fans waved down a mini-van and paid to have it take us to the stadium. It was a fun ride to the game.
We got dropped off about 1/2 mile away from the stadium and from there had to walk to Ellis Park where the game was.On the way there were people waving to the USA fans and hi-fiving them as they made their way to the stands.
Right outside the stadium was a little bar where some Americans, including Mr. Blue were getting their last local brews before heading into the stadium.

Inside was an amazing atmosphere for the USA. One half of a whole side of the stadium was full of American fans cheering and whooping it up and making amazing amounts of noise. I have never seen a World Cup game that had that many American fans and the USA fans were louder than the other team's fans.
Unfortunately, despite the atmosphere, the team came out flat and the USA gave up an early goal. Par for the course lately for the team. The US got their game together and kept pressing the rest of the half but the goal eluded them.The the USA fans were getting testy...
Especially after Slovenia scored their second goal. The USA's chances of advancing to the second round seemed to be slipping out of their grasp.
I never thought I would say this, but thanks to the leadership and guts of Landon Donovan the USA fought back early in the second half and Donovan scored a brilliant goal.

Sending the USA fans crazy! It seemed as if it was the start of the comeback. The USA never will give up!
And after Michael Bradley scored a second goal to equalize the match, it looked like when Maurice Edu headed home the third goal the USA was coming back in one of the most improbable comebacks ever in World Cup history. But a phantom foul call by Mali referee Koman Coulibaly inexplicably ended the hopes of the amazing come back.
At the end of the game Jozy Altidore let the official know how he felt about the call as did several other USA players but to no avail...And in the stands there were mixed emotions. Disgust at the play of the team in the first half, euphoria over their amazing comeback, and horror and disbelief of being robbed 2 points by an incompetent referee.

But at the end of the day the USA still holds their destiny in their own hands. If they manage a win against Algeria they advance. No matter what happens. I can't wait for Wednesday!!

South Korea vs. Argentina

Once again I ended up at Soccer City for a match. This time is was one of my favorite group of fans the South Koreans vs. the Argentina fans who I have never photographed before.
There is definitely a difference in the soccer cultures of the two countries. In the Korea they had one fan leading the chants with a microphone and the fans were loud and united with their voices.

In the Argentina camp it was much less organized. A lot of fans wore Argentina jerseys along with their club team jackets as well.
An impressive site was the South Korea flag flying during the national anthem for the country.
The passion was intense on that side, as it was clear that with a win they would go through to the second round.
And for the Argentine fans there was a lot to celebrate with two goals before the first half.

South Korea got one back just before the half to make it a match again.
But two second half goals had the Argentine fans going crazy...

The world cup for them will continue. And South Korea is still in a decent position to go through with the win in the first round. I hope they do so I can photograph them again....
Along with the Argentine fans!

One of my favorite images I took after the game was a South African girl that was taking part in a Korean Drum during the game. She looked so happy eating this Big Mac after the game I had to take a photo.

As far as I know it might have been the warm beam of sun that she was enjoying.