Bus number 2, the one going to the airport wellington at the train station located less than 10 minutes from the Sky Stadium, it was full. “We’re not going to stop at the next stops, we’re going straight to the stadium,” announced the driver of the already packed bus.
In the midst of a crowd of people, Johannes, a 43-year-old man, looked around, where a group of men were carrying the flag of his country. “You’re going to the game too, right?” The four young men confirmed Johannes’s assumptions, and he smiled knowing he was not the only South African in the car.
He and his wife explained that they traveled from South Africa here last wednesday. “We flew from Johannesburg to Qatar, we took another flight to Auckland, and the last one to Wellington. And it was that below it was a group of blonde girls with white skin and a yellow flag with a blue cross who spoke a language that was not English, or German, or French, or Dutch, or Spanish. There was no doubt that they were Swedish and they were going to the stadium to see their team.
Some of the travelers are from New Zealand, but they still want to go to the second World Cup match that the city of Wellington is hosting. “Five in the afternoon is a good time to watch a football game,” said a mother as she exchanged words with a group of boys with South African flags painted on their cheeks.
Arriving at the stadium, there were more South African and Swedish flags than the first match between Spain and Costa Rica. It may be due to the schedule, as the locals eat early and the schedules in Spain are unfamiliar. Or there’s also the option that fans of both countries really want to see their team play in the World Cup, even if it’s on the other side of the pond.
It rained heavily, there were curtains of rain in the sky, but “in Sweden it’s colder, it’s normal, and in South Africa, the winter is the same as in Wellington,” said Johannes, a man who had no doubt that he came for the love of football and to try to see his team make history. “I hope we win,” he finally said.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
