Well, here's one for the books. New Zealand have a World Cup point and worked hard to get it, and we are still licking our wounds after our 4-0 thrashing by the Germans. This wasn't supposed to happen. If there was ever an incentive for the Socceroos to magically improve dramatically by the next game, surely this is it. Forget World Cup glory, focus on the shame of being outdone by the Kiwis!
Marianne watched the game on a giant screen in the same sunny but shady square where we watched the Italy game yesterday. It was only E2 for a beer (not sure what size though) anyway. Not much of a crowd and even less of a game, most people who were there were only reserving reserving seats for the Portugal game that followed 45 minutes later. But the Kiwis got a good reception when they got their equaliser.
The crowd very quickly built up as the Portugal game approached. Most people were (surprsise, surprise) dressed in Portugal colours, flags, and other paraphernalia. All stood up and sang the national anthem (as the Italians had done the evening before). The crowd was fairly subdued during the game though and I think most were disappointed but relieved the side hadn't lost.
It's hard to say but I think there were about 500 people there by half time and at least a couple more hundred by the end of the game. It doesn't sound many but it is a relatively small square and an adjacent, much larger square about 100 metres away had a whole grandstand set up! You can see the grandstand in the photo from the castle above.
No comments:
Post a Comment