I will admit right at the beginning that I’ve never really been a fan of “the beautiful game”. But last night was definitely a great introduction!
The atmosphere was electrifying. Stepping out into the stands at the magnificent Moses Mabhida Stadium under lights, I was greeted by a sea of red, cheering fans, and of course, the ever present vociferous sound of the vuvuzela. With a capacity crowd of over 50 000 people this was quite a sight … the noise alone you could feel right to your core!
As the players ran out on to the field, the stadium erupted and excitement levels were at fever pitch. We all sang Happy Birthday to Madiba – what a special way to celebrate this great man’s birthday.
Despite the number of red shirts in the stadium, it seemed that most supporters were rooting for both teams as “come on’s” were screamed, or “aaaahs” were groaned when players got close to either of the goals.
Even though only one goal was scored by Man United’s Federico Macheda in the first half, AmaZulu had a couple of close calls which had the crowd cheering frantically.
So although I scored one out of 10 on most (read all!) of the technical aspects of the game and didn’t know who any of the players were, I was completely wrapped up in the excitement … and considering the passion I felt last night, you’d think I had been a fan my whole life.
Ok … so when’s the next game?!
Story by Robyn Hulley