SSR Vol5 FIFA- WC-SA

Photo by Jean Dugas

SSR Magazine

“ Believe the Hype ” By Aldwyn McGill

The 2010 World Cup began peaking in the last days leading up to kick-off. I arrived at the Tambo Airport in Johannesburg from Toronto via a connecting flight in Dubai. The flight from Lester Pearson International Airport in Toronto, to my connecting flight in Dubai had no indication that FIFA’s show piece was only three days away. However, my flight from Dubai to South Africa consisted of mainly of Mexican supporters and it was an amazing experience. The United Emirates flight to Johannesburg had close to a hundred Mexican supporters and they always seems to answer the call to support their El Tri team in any part of the world. When the pilot announced that we were preparing to land in Jo-burg (Johannesburg), the Mexican fans sang lustily, since they were confident that Mexico had turned the ship around and was going to do well at the FIFA W-Cup South Africa. Mexico had struggled in the early stages of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. But after winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup, they regrouped and made a final push that saw them finished second to secure one of the three automatic spots for the World Cup finals.

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