National News
Praise for CT Stadium
2010-06-11 23:38
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Cape Town - The 68 000-seater Cape Town Stadium received plaudits from fans as it hosted its first World Cup game on Friday night.
"It works very well: it's got a nice buzz," said Cape Town businessman Mike Klerk, sporting a knitted cap in French colours, at half-time.
Klerk, one of the fans that made up what appeared to be a near-capacity crowd watching France take on Uruguay, said he had been to soccer matches in the United Kingdom and Germany.
Cape Town stadium was equal to, if not better than, the best in those countries, he said.
He said the noise of the vuvuzelas in the stadium was "not too bad".
"You've just got to come prepared," he said, showing the earplugs he was wearing. "If you don't like the sound, plug your ears."
At their first-ever live soccer match were friends Jess Donnelly and Sinead Comninos, both from Cape Town.
No hassles
They and Donnelly's parents came in matching black coats, black berets, and tricolour scarves bought from Clicks.
Comninos also wore gloves in a red, white and blue knit, and carried a blue vuvuzela.
"It's amazing, the atmosphere, everything," she said.
Donnelly, who works as a sales adviser, said they used trains and buses to reach the stadium from the suburbs.
"They were perfect," she said. "And we didn't take long to get inside (the stadium). We just walked in. It was great."
Asked why they were in French colours, she laughed. "I took French at school and we thought we'd like to support someone," she said.
Both women said they were disappointed that fans had blown vuvuzelas during the national anthems at the start of the game, something they thought disrespectful.
Ear plugs
Outside the stadium entrepreneur Hans Navratil said that despite Fifa's restrictions on hawking in the precinct, he had sold his entire stock of 300 pairs of earplugs to fans queuing for the match.
He had worn an oversize pair of plugs, made out of rolls of foam rubber, to attract attention, and had thrown in a "jokey line" in his sales pitch that his plugs were satellite-enhanced and came with free airtime.
He said he had tried to heat-sterilise the earplugs, which he made himself out of a sheet of foam, as an added selling point.
However when the temperature reached 100 degrees, the earplugs melted, which was problematic.
Elsewhere in the city, there was dancing in the streets as fans prepared to party the night away following the draw between South Africa and Mexico.
The city centre echoed to the blare of vuvuzelas as people crammed into drinking spots, while others enjoyed entertainment along the fan walk, a 2.5km promenade to the stadium.
Thousands more fans were expected to join them after the France-Uruguay game ended in a goalless draw.
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