Johannesburg game day — this time, it’s soccer
As South Africa and Spain battle it out for third place, the soccer world is turning its attention to the match that kicks off later tonight in Johannesburg.
The buzz is significant here among the small American contingent here. Jessica Siegel, a fellow delegate on this tour, wrote a piece for ESPN relating the rise of the U.S. men’s national team to the similar change in the USA’s international profile since the election of Barack Obama. I’ll be filing a post-game report from our bus with my thoughts on the match, and you can enjoy the agile mind of another colleague, Eve Fairbanks, by following her Tweets at #confed during the match. (I may even be able to convince her to pass along some comments from yours truly as well.)
There also seems to be a lot of support for the Yanks from the neutrals here. I ran into a group in the hotel elevator that just arrived this morning from Botswana and they were eager to report that they would be supporting the boys in red, white and blue tonight. Whether due to the Obama factor or simply the pleasure of rooting for an underdog, they won’t be alone.
What a great Final. THe USA played well despite the loss.