Ghana gets backing from South Africans

RUSTENBURG, South Africa - On Saturday night, South Africans quite literally took up Ghana's cause, trading in their country's colorful flag for Ghana's black star.

Local fans were intent on aiding, at least vocally, the last African nation playing in this 2010 World Cup.

Of the thousands of fans circling Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng Stadium in the hours before Saturday's U.S.-vs.-Ghana match, many wore South Africa's gold-and-yellow - clear Bafana Bafana supporters - but carried Ghana's red, yellow, and green flag. Printed on the side of Ghana's bus is the phrase, "The hope of Africa."

One Ghana fan held a poster that read, "One star outshines 50," a rather clever reference to the competing teams' flags.

A larger-than-expected contingent of English supporters was in Rustenburg, wrapped in their country's flag and sporting the three-lions symbol. There's a good chance at least a couple of thousand England fans assumed their team would finish atop Group C and snagged early tickets to Saturday's match at Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

Spotted: Former President Bill Clinton at Saturday's U.S. match, wearing not a suit - as he had for the team's do-or-die match against Algeria - but Team USA's zip-up soccer jacket over a red polo. Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger was also in the crowd, avidly rooting for the Americans.

On his Facebook page, U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra posted a picture of himself with Clinton. The picture was taken in the team's locker room immediately after the U.S.'s dramatic 1-0 victory over Algeria; both Clinton and Bocanegra are holding Budweisers.

Across the street from Royal Bafokeng is the local pub, which was filled with U.S. and England supporters two weeks ago and was filled Saturday with an array of fans. A few hours before kickoff, fans crowded around the pub's projection screen to watch Uruguay defeat South Korea, 2-1, in the day's first round-of-16 match.

Little was surprising about the match except for the sections of empty seats at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Yes, the match was played in the rain; yes, it was a less-than-desirable "fixture" featuring two teams without massive fan bases. But it's embarrassing for there to be thousands of empty seats at a knockout game of the World Cup.

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium holds 42,486, but FIFA announced a crowd of 30,597, which seemed exaggerated.

More frustrating is the fact that most matches are designated as sold out on FIFA's website - not allowing the purchase of tickets - only to show thousands of empty seats on TV.

FIFA officials continue to insist that ticket sales for this World Cup will surpass the 2006 World Cup in Germany and rate higher than any previous World Cup except for the 1994 World Cup, played in the United States.

It's not a world war, it's a World Cup, but a match between England and Germany, such as Sunday's game in Bloemfontein, seems to inspire almost as much analysis and headlines. The English have a history of getting run over by the Germans - we mean on the field of play - leading to, as one English writer suggested, England's inferiority complex with Germany.

Here's this bit from CBSnews.com: "In England, they joke about the war, German accents, and Hitler. In Germany, they joke about the fact that the English joke about the war, German accents, and Hitler.

"The Germans used to get offended. Now they look on in slightly patronizing bemusement as English newspapers trot out ethnic stereotypes about war, Aryan races, and bombing, preparing their readers for yet another agony-filled elimination game against their old foe Sunday."

The photo accompanying the column showed the Empress Pub in Cambridge with a hanging banner that read, "England vs. Germany and the French have gone home . . . ring any bells?"