World Cup 2010: Reality Sets In

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- "What a weekend," reads the first line of a front-page article headlined "A real moment of SA triumph" that appears in Monday's Cape Times. Another in a Johannesburg paper says, "The game we all won."

The first weekend of the 2010 World Cup has come and gone, with more success than failure. FIFA gleefully reported "record TV audience" for the opening match. The United States Soccer Federation sent a release announcing that Saturday's United States-England tilt in Rustenburg had the highest ratings of any first round match ever.  (Amazingly, almost one in five people in Germany viewed the Americans battle the Three Lions.)

But the story is a bit different on the ground in South Africa. While the country's excitement carried the initial 72 hours, the thrill is wearing off and reality is setting in.

Talk radio shows on Monday morning focused on two issues: The Bafana Bafana's Frindy night tie with Mexico (and the great scene at Soccer City), and the concern that the '10 World Cup wouldn't match the average of 52,000 fans per match posted by Germany four years earlier. There were 11,000 empty seats during the Slovenia-Algeria tilt and many more absences the first three matches of the new week. Some of the biggest matches of the tournament, such as South Africa-Uruguay, are being contested at small stadiums, a shame considering how popular they will be.

Outside the games could become a problem as well. Only 2,000 people showed up to one fan fest and "a couple hundred" to another over the weekend. Contrasted with the 20,000 who packed into Innes Free Park on Friday night, the drop-off is concerning.

Sunday night's riot in Durbin symbolized another problem that's impossible to ignore: labor issues. The police used rubber bullets and tear gas to stop a protest by security workers after the Germany-Australia match. According to the employees, FIFA paid them $25 instead of the $150 they'd been promised. Elsewhere, employees at Eskom, a major supplier of electricity, could strike during the tournament if their demands aren't met.

So far, security at the stadiums hasn't been a problem, but the lack of attention to detail before the U.S.-England match was surprising. Media had to pass through a checkpoint and while bags were x-rayed, no guard frisked or patted down those entering the Royal Bafokeng Stadium complex.

Additionally, the World Cup isn't bringing an economic boost to some street vendors who expected an uptick in sales. At a Cape Town street market, the majority of sellers sounded disappointed by the lack of transactions.

"Business has been slow," a man selling impressive reliefs of the city he made from discarded soda cans said. "We're not much busier than usual. No one is buying, but we're hopeful it will pick up. Some people said they will come back at the end of their trip." He didn't sound confident as rain poured down outside his tent.

And then there's the ongoing vuvuzela controversy. 

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo say it's impossible to communicate. FIFA continues to waffle, thus exacerbating the problem, Sepp Blatter doesn't want the instruments banned but some of the local residents do.

"It's louder than a jet engine inside the stadium," one person who attended the frighteningly dull France-Uruguay match said. "I had a two-hour drive after the match, and my ears didn't stop ringing until I got home."

Despite all these factors, the tournament continues to progress as smoothly as could be anticipated. But if you listen closely, you can hear a growing undercurrent of mild dissatisfaction. Assuming the ringing in your ears stops, that is.

Noah Davis (@noahedavis) covers the United States Men's National Team for Goal.com and is reporting from the World Cup in South Africa.