June 16

The date of June 16 has taken on historical significance in South Africa. It marks the anniversary of the 1976 student uprising in Soweto, which served as a global flashpoint for the anti-Apartheid movement. I'll have much more to say about the student uprising in a future blog entry.

June 16, 2010 had the potential to be historic for South Africa in another way. Bafana Bafana, the yellow-jerseyed home side, had a key Group A encounter with Uruguay. With both countries having drawn their first matches (Uruguay vs. France at nil, South Africa vs. Mexico at one), the winner of this one would take control of the group. No host nation had ever failed to make it past the group stage in the World Cup, so there was considerable pressure on Tshambalala, Pienaar, and the rest of "The Boys, The Boys."

The atmosphere in Durban on our last night there was electric. The weather cooperated nicely, beckoning 30-40,000 people to the promenade to watch on large public televisions at the Fan Fest. Of course, Joe Cool's packed them in too. Here's some video of the party scene at halftime (they sure do love their dance remixes over there)...

This being sport, the game did not stick to the script the home side so badly hoped for. Diego Forlan screamed one off the defense and over the Bafana keeper before halftime...

...and followed it up with a PK midway through the second half. At that point the air went completely out of the balloon. Bafana supporters were even caught on television leaving the stadium early! Needless to say, the African announcers on SuperSport were aghast and ashamed after the game. With Uruguay getting one more in garbage time to extend their winning margin to 3-0, Bafana Bafana were all but eliminated from the tournament.

June 16, 2010 turned out to be a historically bad night for Bafana Bafana and South Africa.