We left home very early (3pm) hoping to catch the second half of the Germany vs England game in the stadium. We bought the park and ride tickets so that we only needed to drive to a designated parking area further away from the stadium and hop onto the feeder bus that ferries everyone to and from the the stadium. By the time we were inside the stadium it was 4.30pm and was just about going into half time. So we decided to walk around and explore the stadium more.
The long 2km walk from drop off point to the stadium
World cup memorabilia on sale!
Hemant, Akash and Naseer behind me.
Cops aplenty at entrance points.. I got frisked and man handled to check for any illegal substances or weapons :P
The guys taking a moment to absorb the view of....
Soccer City!
The design of the stadium is taken after the "calabash", an African pot. This is because it is most recognizable and automatically associated with the African continent.
Countless hardcore Argentinian fans!
Here's a few shots being upclose and inside the stadium.
It was getting cold alright...
Here's a view of where we are sitting, almost the same view from the Confederations Cup game last year. This was 2 hours before the game started.
Lost chinese boy...
And an hour later, it was filled up. Stadium capacity is 90,000 spectators. Attendance was around 86,500 that night.
And the teams began their warm up routine about half an hour before. This might or might not have appeared on the live telecast, but the fans were throwing toilet rolls onto the pitch, even during the game!
Players introduced to the crowd just before kick off.
As the game started we were all too busy trying to concentrate due to the noise :P but it was all good.
As we left, we took a chance to capture the Soccer City with lights on. It's really some view.
Until Friday for Uruguay vs Ghana, at least we have 1 African and 1 Asian team still in competition. Go Africa!!!
p/s Thanks Akash for the sharp pics.
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