#8 - In which South Africa are Defeated and Friends Make an Announcement

Wednesday 16 June 7.30pm – Covent Garden's Bok Bar is a curious fish. The back section, opened up for tonight's crowd, is a soulless corridor finished in glossy wood. It jars with the main area, which is all traveller’s bar, and all the better for it. The roof is covered with currency notes signed by those who’ve passed through, but my favourite is the ticket for one of Metallica’s 2009 gigs at the O2 - which I was at - which I find stuck to a beam. Hell yeah! \m/

The South African mood is optimistic - to begin with - and there are plenty of English fans in the bar tonight cheering them on as well.

After kick off I’m particularly entertained by one girl who’s sat at the bar, chatting to friends - with her back to the TV. She turns out to be from Johannesburg and is travelling around Europe for a month.

This strikes me as an act of minor genius. You travel five thousand miles, put on your South African hoody, head out to a South African bar which is showing the big South Africa match – and then sit with your back to the screen. Ace.

The game itself goes slowly, horribly wrong for Bafana Bafana. A hint of desperation becomes audible in the cries of ‘come on South Africa!’

Tonight, for the first time, I'm watching a team for whom defeat probably means an early exit from the tournament. You might be able to shrug off losses in the first game, but it’s only going to get harder from here on in.



It ends up 3-0 to Uruguay, but this game will last in my memory for a completely unrelated reason. One of my closest friends shows up with his girlfriend at half time in order to announce that they’re engaged. She's made no secret of her opinion on the question of marriage for some time, so it's not entirely a surprise. But still - congratulations, Ben and Sally!