Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Soccer: Ajax Cape Town vs. the Moroka Swallows


Last April, we had some guests in town, and they really wanted to go to a game while they were here. I was looking forward to going because it was going to be in the Cape Town Stadium, the giant one used for the 2010 World Cup. Cape Town’s local soccer (football) team is Ajax (often pronounced “a-yax” here), and they played the Moroka Swallows, a South African soccer club from Johannesburg.  If you’re interested here is a brief look at the history of soccer/football in South Africa.

Game stated!
The Moroka Swallos.

Our seats were pretty close, but even still, the players looked tiny on the huge field! 

Teeny tiny!

There were not many people there, maybe because it was rainy and not a “big” game. When Manchester United was here a few weeks ago, it was much fuller. There were people with drums and vuvuzelas to add a rhythm to their cheers.

Most of the crowd. Raining in the picture.

The logistics of the stadium are a little awkward. There is no near-by parking- it was specifically designed this way so that people will bus or ride a train to the stadium. There were no open box offices, so to buy last-minute tickets, we had to buy from scalpers selling them for cheap. Also beware of bringing in long camera lenses because we almost didn’t get in. Small cameras were fine.

Ajax players warming up.
I would definitely go again, hopefully when the crowd was larger and more dynamic!


P.S.- Sorry that I haven’t been posting! We had a long-term guest in town (not staying with us), then others came for a conference- and they kept us busy being tourists. I’ll start posting more pictures of our adventures soon. Also, I’ve been developing my PhD proposal too! Eek!


Song of the Post: "Too Close" by Alex Clare. I heard this on the new Internet Explorer commercial and really liked it. I think I’ll look into more of his music. I'm posting two videos- same song- which do you like better? I'd really like to know.


Here is an "unplugged" live version:



Here is the official music video, fully studio worked version (used in the commercial):

3 comments:

Sami said...

I´ve never been to a soccer match in a stadium, it must be fun when the teams that are playing are "big names" and the crowds are excited.

Kristi said...

I like the style of the song from the official video a little better, but I prefer the first video. :-)

Why Girls Are Weird said...

I'm totally in agreement with Kristi above me.