Confederations Cup: South Africans Become New Zealand Fans For A Night

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – When it comes to sports, South Africans don’t generally like New Zealanders. Too many broken hearts—and fingers—in matches with the All-Blacks, New Zealand’s famed rugby team, ranked #1 in the world right now.

But on Saturday night at Ellis Park Stadium—where the Springboks of South Africa defeated the All-Blacks in the Rugby World Cup final in 1995—the South Africans in the crowd cheered the New Zealand football team like they were Kiwis themselves. Why? Because if New Zealand could hold Iraq to a draw, South Africa—who lost 2-0 to Spain—would advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

“The crowd were fantastic,” New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert said after his side earned a 0-0 tie with Iraq. “We told [the team] to acknowledge the crowd in the warm up. With all the media around, with 30,000 showing up at the stadium, we knew 29,000 would be cheering for us, which is a strange thing for a New Zealand team to experience in South Africa.”

In the end, the All-Whites played like they had all of South Africa behind them. Goalkeeper Glen Moss made several miraculous saves in the final minutes to preserve the result, including stopping TK’s point-blank shot—with his face! And each time New Zealand crossed the center stripe, the crowd would start to vibrate and the vuvuzelas would buzz even louder. With each missed opportunity, it was like South Africa had missed a goal.

“New Zealand is like part of our country tonight,” a teenaged girl named Vesta, who refused to give her last name, told me.

To help the locals follow the South Africa-Spain game, the journalists in the media tribune tuned their replay monitors to the goings-on in Bloemfontein. (This was also so they themselves could follow what was sure to be a better match.) Those audience members sitting nearby spent more time watching the action on the little screens than the action on the pitch. One thin man in a multicolored floppy hat couldn’t control his emotions and leaped over the barrier to get a better look at a South African chance.

When the final whistle blew at Ellis Park, the New Zealanders celebrated as if they had won the game. In part, this was because the result earned the All-Whites their first ever point in the Confederations Cup. But it was also in solidarity with the thousands who had cheered them on.

“We played our part in securing South Africa's entry to the semifinals,” Herbert said. “We wish them well.”

Greg Lalas, Goal.com

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