Cup fever spreading in Panama

By David Young*

WORLD CUP fever is spreading across the Isthmus, symbolized by flags of 32 nations sprouting on cars wherever you go. 

Leading the unofficial count so far are Brazil,  Spain and Argentina, with other flags of participating Latin American countries are far behind as supporters display their patriotism, no matter how thin their hopes are of moving beyond the round robin start to the world’s biggest sporting event.  Flags of England and Greece have been seen, but none of the United States, who will appear onthe filed against England on Saturday , June 12, at 1.30 p.m.
Restaurants, cantinas and pubs are gearing up for the fray, hoisting flags and adding extra TV screens.  Rincon Aleman on Calle 51 took an early kick off on Monday with a press conference, well ahead of the opening ceremonies set for Friday at 8 a.m. local time. Mine host Fritz will be serving a fortifying breakfast before and during the first game between host country South Africa and Mexico.
Check out your favorite viewing spot or watering hole, because it’s likely there will be standing room only, and the office phones will be busy with folks calling in sick, or from grandpop’s funeral.
After opening day. there will be three televised games each day at 6 a.m., 9 a.m. and 1.30 p.m.

Meanwhile,from South Africa comes a mixture of good news and bad news, depending on which side you support.

The bad news that hit most headlines this week was when a large crowd stampeded into a stadium hosting a pre tournament warm up game between Nigeria and Korea. People were injured and world governing body FIFA was quick to announce that the organizers were not following FIFA ticketing rules, and that similar incidents will not be seen when the tournament starts in earnest.
England supporters are biting their nails after superstar Wayne Rooney once again lost his temper and used the F word to the referee in a friendly against a local team. He got a yellow card, but in the real world would have been red carded, a he was when England was playing Portugal in the quarter finals of the last World Cup.
Some European teams are looking frayed around the edges after a long season, and now coping with altitude changes.
Holders Italy, have posted a set of pre-World Cup results that must be sending supporters crazy.. A 2-1 defeat to Mexico on Thursday last week was followed by a lame 1-1 draw with Switzerland in Geneva on Saturday.

But the Italians have a habit of looking sluggish in World Cup friendlies before finding their form at the right time.
In 1982 and 2006 Italy were hopelessly off the pace in their warm-ups before going on to win the trophy
On Friday France’s lost 1-0 to China. The French, who qualified for the World Cup at the expense of the Irish (and thanks to the hand of Thierry Henry), had already endured a shaky build-up to the tournament, scraping past Costa Rica 2-1 and then being held to a 1-1 draw by Tunisia.
The French press was scathing in its criticism. "A giant step backward," declared sports daily L’Equipe, while Le Parisien predicted that "if nothing changes, things are going to be tough in South Africa".
Relations between the press and some members of the French squad have deteriorated to the extent that some players are are refusing to talk to reporters, while those who do only confirm the impression that the squad is desperately short on self-belief.
Ah well,only a few days to go before the jousting ends and it gets serious.
My early predictions are a win for Mexico in the opening game against South Africa, and a victory for England over the United States on Saturday.

The author is the former editor and publisher of Soccer Illustrated and worked as an editor in South Africa.

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