Samba kings trample the elephants

I wasn’t able to get tickets for the Brazil – Ivory Coast game on the FIFA website.  But back in March I had arranged to buy two tickets from a Finnish man I contacted online.  He was arriving today, the day of the game, and I was to go to his guesthouse to make the trade (cash for tickets). Two tickets actually because I was getting one for Nii (one of the guys) as well. Turns out through no formal planning that most of the guys were going to this game as well.  Great minds think alike.

Ivorian cousin went with me and we ended up waiting for Mr. Finland and his wife to arrive from the airport.  After that we had breakfast in a mall close by and returned home.  He cooked okro soup and pap (which must be his favourite meal because when we went to Homebaze the other day, that’s what he wanted to order except they were out of okro soup) while I had the crazy idea to do laundry.

Ivorian cousin has a washer and dryer combo and when I asked how long it would take he said “just put in the clothes, start it and it will tell you”.  So, I put in the clothes (off my back) and started the washer/dryer.  Goodness, why did it say 4 hours or some other ridiculous length of time.  I don’t have four hours to kill before it’s time to drive to Soccer City for the evening game!

I ended up taking the still damp clothes out of the dryer, setting them up over a heater and subsequently running a hot iron over them. Sizzle!  Then I wore them. I already have a cold. What more can damp clothes in chilly weather do to me?

We were cutting it close with the time and Nii (and the rest of the guys) were already at the stadium waiting for me to arrive so he could get in.  Nii and I were isolated from the other guys and found out that our seats had been hijacked by a Brazilian band.  We kept moving from seat to seat as others would arrive to claim their seats.  Finally I got pissed and refused to move any more.  If anyone tries to get me out of their seats with security, that security is going to have to get the band out of my seat!  Fortunately, it didn’t come to that.  When my blood temperature cooled a bit, I was able to enjoy the samba behind me.

As much as I wanted Ivory Coast to win, I couldn’t help move to the sounds of the samba and clap and cheer each of the THREE times the Brazilians scored Ivory Coast.  Shhhh!, don’t tell anyone. Didier Drogba in his only saving grace this tournament also scored a goal.  This is the most goals I’ve seen in any tournament live to date!  After the tournament, various Brazilian bands were setting up shop throughout doing their own version of a “ruckus”.  It was actually fun.  These people truly believe they are going home with the World Cup.  I would like to see their faces if they don’t achieve that goal.

I went home with the guys, but not before we passed through Melrose Arch and a club (whose name escapes me at the moment) where we run into Edgar Davids as well as Frank & Ronald de Boer. Actually, they were all behind us in line before someone realized they were football has beens VIPs, and shouldn’t be waiting in line.