T-minus 14 to kick off

The Spanish League has crowned Barcelona champion once again, FA Cup final is over, Europa League has a champion, the other big leagues of Europe and around the world have also finished. With the Champions League final over, there should be an unpleasant empty feeling that comes from a void in the week without futbol games.

Fortunately, it is a World Cup year which means we have futbol commencing in just a few weeks. For those novices out there this is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, where an estimated 715 million people viewed the final in Germany four years ago. It only comes around every four years and the qualification phase started in 2007 to determine which of the 32 teams qualifed for the tournament. In short the entire globe, except most of the USA, is glued to the Tele for an entire month as a new champion is crowned. Italy is the defending champion, but we hope to see Argentina bring home the cup after a long hiatus.

We purchased our tickets back in 2008 not knowing who we be following so the anticipation has been building for a few years and the countdown is officially on. So for these three pirates (Bryan, Kevin, & Rich) the excitement of the World Cup is making us anxious as we prepare to depart for South Africa on June 9th.

For now I have posted our current match schedule and itinerary so you may follow our journey while we travel through various host cities in South Africa (SA). Much more to come…I promise.

Match Schedule:

(1) Match #3, 6/12/10, Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Argentina vs. Nigeria
(2) Match #9, 6/14/10, Soccer City in Johannesburg, Holland v. Denmark
(3) Match #14, 6/15/10, Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Brasil v. North Korea
(4) Match #16, 6/16/10, Durban, Espana v. Switzerland
(5) Match #25, 6/19/10, Durban, Holland v. Japan
(6) Match #30, 6/21/10, Cape Town, Portugal v. North Korea
(7) Match #31, 6/21/10, Pt. Elizabeth, Chile v. Switzerland
(8) Match #44, 6/24/10, Cape Town, Holland v. Cameroon

Itinerary:

June 11 - 16: Johannesburg at Michelangelo Hotel. We have matches on June 12, 14, and 15.

June 16: We pick up our rental in Johannesburg then make a 6 hour drive to Durban. We have match the same day in Durban at 4 PM. Not as crazy as our 12 hour same day drive from Munich to the Port Hamburg while at the 2006 WC, but since we have lost our GPS (Flynn) it might be more like 8 hours.

June 17 - 20: These are "open days" Before we begin the lengthy road trip on 6/17 we have arranged a visit to Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve where we hope to avoid the mosquitoes and view the abundant wildlife the park has to offer.

Then we will make our way along the coast to cape town. This will hopefully entail a shark tour, surfing, etc. Our plan is to stay in "non-host" cities while we explore the coast perhaps stopping at "national parks" or "eco-parks." On June 20, wherever we are, we put the pedal to the metal and make the final push to Cape Town. We have a match the following afternoon at 1:30 PM.

June 21 - 26: We'll be in Cape Town at Town House hotel. We have matches on June 21 and June 24. We depart Cape Town via Emirates in the evening.

We hope to keep everyone who follows us in the loop. Based on previous WC trips nothing works out as planned. We look forward for the adventure that awaits us!

Official website in case you are interested: www.fifa.com/worldcup

Regards,

Los Piratas de la Copa Mundial (Bry, Kev, & Rich)