Last night I went with some work colleagues to the exhibition match between Sundowns and Barcelona at Loftus. It was super fun!
We left our offices in Sandton just after 6 to drive to Pretoria. Almost 2 hours later, we arrived, in a very eventful manner! We hired 2 of the new style taxis. This means that you get to drive like a taxi. We flew down the emergency lane most of the way to Pretoria. I can tell you, people were not happy! But what are they going to do?
We were supposed to meet someone at the One Stop above the highway in Midrand, who had been on the highway about 30 minutes before us. He was still stuck there when we arrived…. Seems we passed him? So after a quick ‘comfort break’ we sped off again.
During the stop we picked up a CD. It was the Zimbabwean version of “Go Shortie, it’s your birthday. We’re gonna party like it’s your birthday…” Think gospel choir with an African accent, singing 50 Cent. We listened to it all the way through Pretoria central. I can’t describe the looks we got from outsiders.
We parked in a garden somewhere after a very tight squeeze between a car and a wall and then a car and a tree and much squealing from the girls in the taxi. We arrived at the game about 10 minutes before kick off, in our yellow and green hard hats. Good for spotting people in a crowd! After much pushing and attempted pick-pocketing, we got into the stadium. It was packed! The seats were all unreserved. It isn’t easy finding seats for 30 people! So we stood at the fence.
Sundowns scored in the first 2 minutes and that set the vibe for the night. There were vuvuzelas everywhere. It is very impressive what some people can do with them! The supporters all have some kind of vuvuzela ‘song’ going, that sounds awesome when 20 000 people get started. It sure sounds better than plain old clapping!
Barcelona scored towards the end of the second half. Ronaldinho did some fancy footwork for the crowd and they went crazy when he was substituted.
At the beginning of the second half, the security guards came out. We had the pleasure of 3 women standing in front of us. They looked very down and out and worse for wear. Like life had been terribly hard on them and they had been drinking in the sun for the last 15 years. The one in front of us was freaky! She kept staring at us girls with a scary look in her eye… thank god for the fence!
After the game, we went back to the taxi and found we were parked in by 2 taxis and a couple cars. We opened some beers put on “Shortie” and got ready to wait. After about 20 minutes, they moved and we were off back to Joburg. The traffic was quite bad, they do road works on the highway at night. After a bit more yellow line driving we eventually got back home.
All in all, a good night. Though I still prefer rugby… it’s more physical and they wear tighter shorts.
We left our offices in Sandton just after 6 to drive to Pretoria. Almost 2 hours later, we arrived, in a very eventful manner! We hired 2 of the new style taxis. This means that you get to drive like a taxi. We flew down the emergency lane most of the way to Pretoria. I can tell you, people were not happy! But what are they going to do?
We were supposed to meet someone at the One Stop above the highway in Midrand, who had been on the highway about 30 minutes before us. He was still stuck there when we arrived…. Seems we passed him? So after a quick ‘comfort break’ we sped off again.
During the stop we picked up a CD. It was the Zimbabwean version of “Go Shortie, it’s your birthday. We’re gonna party like it’s your birthday…” Think gospel choir with an African accent, singing 50 Cent. We listened to it all the way through Pretoria central. I can’t describe the looks we got from outsiders.
We parked in a garden somewhere after a very tight squeeze between a car and a wall and then a car and a tree and much squealing from the girls in the taxi. We arrived at the game about 10 minutes before kick off, in our yellow and green hard hats. Good for spotting people in a crowd! After much pushing and attempted pick-pocketing, we got into the stadium. It was packed! The seats were all unreserved. It isn’t easy finding seats for 30 people! So we stood at the fence.
Sundowns scored in the first 2 minutes and that set the vibe for the night. There were vuvuzelas everywhere. It is very impressive what some people can do with them! The supporters all have some kind of vuvuzela ‘song’ going, that sounds awesome when 20 000 people get started. It sure sounds better than plain old clapping!
Barcelona scored towards the end of the second half. Ronaldinho did some fancy footwork for the crowd and they went crazy when he was substituted.
At the beginning of the second half, the security guards came out. We had the pleasure of 3 women standing in front of us. They looked very down and out and worse for wear. Like life had been terribly hard on them and they had been drinking in the sun for the last 15 years. The one in front of us was freaky! She kept staring at us girls with a scary look in her eye… thank god for the fence!
After the game, we went back to the taxi and found we were parked in by 2 taxis and a couple cars. We opened some beers put on “Shortie” and got ready to wait. After about 20 minutes, they moved and we were off back to Joburg. The traffic was quite bad, they do road works on the highway at night. After a bit more yellow line driving we eventually got back home.
All in all, a good night. Though I still prefer rugby… it’s more physical and they wear tighter shorts.
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