Day 13: Debbie Leaves, Portugal Run Riot
Debbie returned home this morning, it was great having her here. She hasn't seen so much football in her life, but I don't think she's a convert. Tolerated it, as long as the sun shone.
But in the hour before she headed for the airport, she had one last task. For the last few days, she was bothered by the fact that an assistant in a bead shop may have given her R100 too much change. She was not sure at the time, but on examining the receipt, she felt she had to set it right. No use leaving these shores with threat of an African Witch Doctor following her.
It was pouring with rain, and the shop was a decent walk away. "They'll wonder who this mad Australian woman is, trying to give them money," I advised, but Debbie insisted.
Jumping puddles, we soaked our jeans finding the shop again, and the assistant was so grateful. "We were down R100 on the till on Saturday, so God bless you." There, I was right again.
While Debbie headed for Sydney, I went to the Portugal versus North Korea game, and a strange thing happened. Along the Fan Walk, a Portuguese guy in front of me pulled out his ticket, and dropped a R100 note on the floor behind him without noticing. For a moment, I thought ... well, no I didn't ... OK, I did, but I picked it up, caught up with him and returned it. He was both surprised and grateful.
And I thought, not much use getting rid of the African Witch Doctor and replacing him with a Portuguese voodoo doll. At least we're doing our bit to spread World Cup goodwill.
Portugal scored seven, and it was highly entertaining. Football can look so simple and easy sometimes. But Korea was the better team for the first 30 minutes, and it was only 1-0 at half time. The second half was a passing and finishing exhibition. But what a prima donna Ronaldo is. When he laid on the pass for the fourth goal, he turned to face the crowd rather than acknowledge the person who scored the goal. He sulks when his team does not pass to him, and he was the first off the field at the end. Given he's also Portugal's captain, it shows how football is a game where the person nominated as captain has little more to do than win the toss.
Then I watch Chile win, and later, Spain give Honduras a run around. Strange how I've seen every game today, after Debbie left. She protects me from becoming a football slob.
But in the hour before she headed for the airport, she had one last task. For the last few days, she was bothered by the fact that an assistant in a bead shop may have given her R100 too much change. She was not sure at the time, but on examining the receipt, she felt she had to set it right. No use leaving these shores with threat of an African Witch Doctor following her.
It was pouring with rain, and the shop was a decent walk away. "They'll wonder who this mad Australian woman is, trying to give them money," I advised, but Debbie insisted.
Jumping puddles, we soaked our jeans finding the shop again, and the assistant was so grateful. "We were down R100 on the till on Saturday, so God bless you." There, I was right again.
While Debbie headed for Sydney, I went to the Portugal versus North Korea game, and a strange thing happened. Along the Fan Walk, a Portuguese guy in front of me pulled out his ticket, and dropped a R100 note on the floor behind him without noticing. For a moment, I thought ... well, no I didn't ... OK, I did, but I picked it up, caught up with him and returned it. He was both surprised and grateful.
And I thought, not much use getting rid of the African Witch Doctor and replacing him with a Portuguese voodoo doll. At least we're doing our bit to spread World Cup goodwill.
Portugal scored seven, and it was highly entertaining. Football can look so simple and easy sometimes. But Korea was the better team for the first 30 minutes, and it was only 1-0 at half time. The second half was a passing and finishing exhibition. But what a prima donna Ronaldo is. When he laid on the pass for the fourth goal, he turned to face the crowd rather than acknowledge the person who scored the goal. He sulks when his team does not pass to him, and he was the first off the field at the end. Given he's also Portugal's captain, it shows how football is a game where the person nominated as captain has little more to do than win the toss.
Then I watch Chile win, and later, Spain give Honduras a run around. Strange how I've seen every game today, after Debbie left. She protects me from becoming a football slob.
posted by Graham Hand | 10:30 AM
2 Comments:
Awww... it was about time we had a happy anecdote!
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