Great scoop by New York Post! (Read it carefully guys)

Game day

A rude awakening at 5am game day. A lone vuvuzela being mournfully blown by fan in the street below. Maybe an England fan? Steve Waugh got  here today. Tape recorder thrust under his steely eyes and asked if he had a message: "Robert Green, you've just dropped the World Cup". Maybe that was a dream.
Very hot today. I have three jumpers, thermal underwear, a massive jacket, big leather boots and no boardshorts. I have obviously not been paying attention. An English colleague just headed off to the beach leaving me here with my blog and air con. Here are a couple of photos from the window.
Plenty of Australians on the street and not many look confident. Rumours abound of team changes for tonight but that would  be a massive surprise from our conservative coach.
Where you guys watching it?

The final session

The Socceroos held their final pre match training run at Moses Mabidha Stadium in Durban. Pim and Lucas fronted the press but you feel they've done all their talking. They've spent two weeks talking up the Germany team and Lucas says tomorrow is "probably the toughest game in our short world cup history." Considering we'played Italy and Brazil in 2006 and both Germany teams in 1974, it was a big statement.

Spent the day working for AP. Weird being here as a worker and not a fan like four years ago. Less beer, and less watching football. Saw the Argentina win via replays as ws typing out a Craig Moore story at the time. Not making that mistake for england, so off we go.

  

Really?
No, just a test of the screens in Durban

Made it

Durban. Nice looking place. Like the Gold Coast in the 1970s, although can't see many surfers. Could be sharks but likely it's just cold.
Saw France v Uruguay at a Joburg fan zone last night. Becuse it was the late game and followed a very loud Afro music gig I was the oldest bloke there. And the only one without a horn... Or a SA jersey. Reminded me of 2006 except bloody freezing. Had to jump up and down on the spot while watching, great clouds of mist coming off me.
Durban though is nice. Inside this media shuttle it says it's 30 degrees.
Now to brave the accreditation queue and a Pim verbeek press conference.

Socceroos Strange but true No. 2

Germany have taken five strikers to the World Cup but Australia is left with only three. There's Jesus Josh and Hobbling Harry as well as "Aussie" Nikita Rukavtytsya. Nik, who plies his trade on loan at Belgian club K.S.V. Roeselare came to Perth eight years ago as a 14 yearold from the Ukraine, unable to speak English.
His father Vadym was a professional Greco-Roman wrestler in their homeland.

Song for the Socceroos

I got the following email from a Socceroos diehard yesterday and it left me humming for hours and thinking for minutes.

Hey Tony
Seeing as though you’re a media identity – I have a song to be sung in the stands and at the bars
To the tune of Pet Shop boys ‘Go West’…and plays on what was sung in Germany where the crowd would sing ‘stand up for the socceroos’ and repeat that line over and over again and it went nowhere.
I was motivated by the Croatians fantastic singing in Stuttgart main square before the game – earlier that day – we had nothing to match them - except such great lines such as – ‘you’re shit, but your chicks are hot, repeat’ again with the go west melody

Anyway – here we go

STAND UP FOR THE SOCCEROOS
SING LOUD FOR THE SOCCEROOS
FEEL PROUD OF THE SOCCEROOS
IT’S THE TIME OF THE SOCCEROOS

Can you get it out there?
I tried in Stuttgart – wrote it out 25 times on a single A4 page – went to the Stuttgart train station photocopier – printed it off 30 times and then handed out all 700 of them to the Aussie crowd in the bars in the hrs leading up to that famous night. George Negus called me the ‘bearded bard’ at the time! And Tony Wheeler in his book referred to me in some way too

Anyway

Its in your hands now…

Martin

Four years ago I thought I might write a song too. I had heard that Mark Schwarzer's favourite artist was Jimmy Barnes, circa Working Class Man, so a I penned a tribute which begand "Let's all cheer that magic man, Schwarzer!" What followed was a long (and some said painful) celebration of the Australian number one, intricately woven around the lyrics of Khe Sahn, a great choice - or so I believed - because it was a backpacker in foreign pub staple and had been for years. I told a few friends and you know what? It never stuck. For a start it was four minutes long. Secondly, the stutterers I know had trouble with the line: "We're gunna drink in Kaiserslautern all night long".
Despite Martin's comment, I thought my song was bested by the "You're shit, but your chicks are hot" song, which was carried over into the Italy match, and certainly made more sense to me that day.
Other favourite chants along the 2006 way included "You only sing when you're whaling" (at the Japanese) and "One tonne Ronaldo" at the hefty Brazilian bloke.
What I found out with my overwrought Cold Chisel Schwarzer tribute, and Martin will probably learn, is that after several hours drinking in a town square songs need to consist of as few words as possible.
Let's keep track of the chants in SA, if you hear a good one, let us know.