The Week of Jo'Burg Begins

Monday's match in the crown jewel of South Africa's soccer venues, Soccer City in Johannesburg, was the Scandinavian showdown between the Netherlands and Denmark, the opening match for Group E.  For me, it was the first match of the tournament in Johannesburg, but only the first of four I'll travel to in that city this week, alternating between the Soccer City and Ellis Park venues.

Attending a Holland match is always a festive occasion. The fans are very much in the spirit(s) of the day, and the color for the day is always orange, a tribute to their royal family, which has over the years, taken on much more of a life of its own. With all of the seats at Soccer City already being the same color, it had to feel like a home match for every Dutch fan entering the park.

The first half of the match was played very cautiously, as are most first matches in the World Cup. The first and foremost objective for every team is not to take a loss in their first match. A draw if OK, because a point is a point when it comes to advancing to the next round, but to give a group opponent a three-point lead in the first match really puts a team in dire straits. Consequently, the first halves are usually played very conservatively.

At this juncture, I'll drop in a few photos for both my friends who are Holland fans, as well as those (you know who you are) Arsenal fans, since both teams had a prominent member of that Premier League contender.

The match was 0-0 at halftime, but it took only a moment for Holland to gain the advantage, when Danish defender Daniel Agger's attempted clear ended up in their net one minute into the second half. From that point, Holland increased their pressure, and the midway substitution Elijero Elia, swung the play almost totally towards the Dutch end. A fantastic clear off the line by a Danish defender saved one goal, and goalkeeper Thomas Sorenson did an excellent job to deny Holland's Robin Van Persie another.

The Dutch pressure ultimately paid dividends in the 85th minute when Elia broke his left flank and unleashed a strong shot that caromed of the far post, and into the path of an oncharging Dirk Kuyt, who stuffed the rebound in for the final 2-0 margin.

For the day, midfielder Wesley Sneijder, who also stars for his Inter Milan club, was voted Man of the Match, but in truth, the Holland win was an effort of a stronger team being rewarded for more consistent and determined purpose toward gaining a positive result and a good start to their Group Play.

Today, rather tonight, we finally get to see Brazil, in their group opener against World Cup (and worldwide) outsiders, North Korea, this one played at the other Johannesburg venue, Ellis Park.

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