South Africans React to England's Match

South Africans woke up at 7 a.m. to watch Germany defeat England 4-1 on their home televesion sets. Some people do not have the urge to hit the pubs on an early Sunday morning. The question is: What do they do if they don't receive ESPN? Simple. They improvise. Turn your TV to 34, a Spanish-speaking channel that is showing the World Cup. Next, find a live English-speaking radio station with commentators and you are good to go.

Germany overwhelmed their old rivals (dating back to World War II) June 27 in Bloemfontein. Klose scored in the 20th minute, Podolski in the 32nd minute and Mueller in the 67th as well as 70th minutes. However, there has been some extensive controversy over England's shot that should have been a goal, as portrayed by the slow-motion replays that clearly revealed that the ball bounced behind the goal line. Moreover, both teams--Germany's Friedrich and England's Johnson--were yellow-carded only once, which is less than the average per game for this tournament.

John Hemmens, born in Cape Town, South Africa and living in Orange County, California for more than 14 years, stated that England was "long overdue for a win to get the Cup." He thought England could beat Germany, but was worried about Germany's striker. "It was very disappointing that England didn't get that second goal, because that was a definite goal." Commenting on the poor referreeing, he said "there have been a lot of decisions that have gone the wrong way." He also mentioned the positive aspects of his home country hosting the World Cup, but is disappointed that only one African nation, Ghana, has advanced and South Africa as well as Cameroon have not gone through to the Round of 16.

John Hemmens shares his thoughts

Roger Nichols, who was born to English parents in South Africa, was also upset with England's result: "It was not expected." He thought the English team's manager had better options, yet he picked the wrong team. "He's Italian, so we'll have to forgive him for that!" Nichols also thought David Beckham was best to stay out of the game. Furthermore, this fan talks about the new soccer ball's benefits: it's lighter, has less panels, moves in the air differently and provides for more accurate corner and free kicks. "I don't think it's fair, I think it gives the German team an unfair advantage." He believes the ball could be contributing to the low number of goals scored during this competition. He predicts that Argentina and Brazil could be playing in the finals, or possibly Spain. "Although the Germans did look good today, I don't know if they got the quality to actually make it to the final...if you had to say who would I put money on, I'd say it's probably going to be Brazil," who has won the World Cup five times so far--more than any other country.

Roger Nichols on England's /// Roger Nichols on Germany's

Manager and David Beckham /// Ball and Possible Winners