The World Cup Is Truly Awesome

In case you weren't already acutely aware, the 2018 FIFA World Cup started this weekend in Russia. In spite of FIFA - the governing body of world football - the World Cup is truly awesome. It unites the world, stops war, showcases The Beautiful Game, and lets people across the world communicate in the common language of football, regardless of one's mother tongue. Perhaps the only smart thing FIFA has ever done - was the awarding of the 2026 World Cup to the United States, Mexico and Canada. Or, the North American World Cup that it's being billed as. I for one, cannot wait, for football to finally awaken the sleeping giant here in the U.S. Besides which, being at a World Cup is a once in a lifetime experience like no other.

In June 2010, I went to South Africa for the historic - and first ever - World Cup hosted on the African Continent. We went to 9 matches in 9 days all across the country. But don't worry, there was plenty of time to sleep on the 14-hour flight home to Sydney. Special thanks to the Qantas flight crew for leaving me be and not waking me for meals, in-flight duty free shopping or any other annoying announcements. I really needed the sleep on the return leg. My schedule was as outlined below, starting off in Johannesburg, then off to Rustenburg, flights to Durban, back to Joburg, off to Pretoria, back to Joburg, back out to Rustenburg, back to Joburg.

The World Cup Opening Ceremony was amazing and being inside the brand new Soccer City in Soweto was pretty cool. We had absolutely incredible seats (thanks, Sean!) and a memorable night was had by millions of people watching on TV. South Africa had an awful team but the first result was a sketchy 1 - 1 draw with Mexico. Home fans happy, the World Cup was off to a good start. Now on with the rest of the tournament.

Next day wasn't so great. Somehow I survived the 14-hour round-trip aboard a bus to Rustenburg with rowdy, rude and massively drunken (and later, very angry) English fans-cum-hooligans. England were unlucky and their fans inside the stadium were angry with the surprise 1 - 1 draw with the underdog Americans. I saw one angry English fan at full-time start abusing an innocent American tourist. The bloke then squared up with the American, threatened him, racially abused him, and then the American did what any proud American would: decked him. Even the English fans around the fallen yob seemed to empathize with the American in self-defense. Some fans even made the observation that we'd just witnessed African-style tribal justice. Either way, fair result both on and off the pitch. We digress. Next day the front page of the New York Post said it all.

I lived to tell the tale and survived the bus ride back to Johannesburg with the awful English fans, and made it home at 4 AM. There was no time for sleep as I had a 6 AM ride to the airport to make my flight to Durban, so it was a quick shower, change of clothes and pack an overnight bag consisting of basically nothing but the absolute essentials. Which meant, packing basically nothing. Durban is absolutely beautiful and the beaches sensational. Given Australia's long absence from playing on the world's biggest stage, chronic bad luck, and frankly, being cursed, it was more than awesome to witness the Green & Gold playing in the opening match in the fabulous new Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Hearing the Aussie anthem being sung by a crowd that left the hairs standing up on the back of my neck was pretty heartwarming. It also felt like the stadium was 90%+ Australian fans. Just a shame our coach decided to batten down the hatches and play with no striker that night. We set up to play that night in the antithetical way to the Australian culture. Australia is a large Island nation with a small population that has to fight extra hard for attention and respect on the world stage. Football is no different, but that night we didn't play with the same grit, toughness and entrepreneurial spirit that is synonymous with Aussie's. Germany dismantled us 4 - 0, and it easily could have been more.

There wasn't much time for reflection or sorrow or partying with the traveling Aussie fans because of the 5 AM flight the next morning back to Joburg. One of the great things about the World Cup is it forces the host country to invest billions of dollars in building new infrastructure and transportation logistics so fans like me can get from Point A to Point B efficiently during the month-long spectacle of football. Of course, the locals get the benefit of the shiny new infrastructure after the fans leave so it's a win-win. At least that's what the brochure says. Upon landing at O.R. Tambo I was lucky enough to ride the brand new Gautrain and caught it to Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton. The Gautrain was the highly controversial high speed train that was supposed to become the Joburg equivalent of the Heathrow Express and some. Suffice it to say, the Gautrain was barely ready for the World Cup but it was able to get me from the airport to Sandton, and no further. Two double espressos and some scrambled eggs later, I was ready to go for my fourth match in four days.

One thing I had taken for granted, was that there would be organized transportation from Sandton to Soccer City in Soweto. Well, I was hopelessly wrong! But I did happen to see this swarm of Dutch fans dressed in orange and when they heard my plight they welcomed me in open arms on their privately arranged Dutch fan tour bus to and from the match. See below my unbelievable welcome aboard their bus. To this day I'll never forget that experience and just how awesome are the Oranje (dutch fans). That day I learned my only Dutch - Hup Holland Hup - which basically means "Go Holland, Go!" Those three words have done me a solid ever since with each and every Dutch person I meet. That day I was also glad Holland beat their Danish rivals 2 - 0. The Dutch fans also made sure my cultural appropriation didn't end with language skills, but also culinary. Yes, there was plenty of Heineken consumed that day.

That night back in Joburg I was able to get some rest, have a normal civilized meal, and get some sleep. I stayed with my good mate Greg Chalom's wonderful parents in Joburg, and they were amazing hosts - even if I was barely there! The next day I met up with the some Aussie friends in Sandton, and had the best steak in the world at the famous Grillhouse in Rosebank. Hands down the best steak in the world and after my food coma I went to the famous rugby stadium of Ellis Park in the mid-afternoon. I'll never forget how surreal that night was. First and foremost, Brazil were playing North Korea. Second, it was really, really cold. It was like -3 degrees Celsius and I was not prepared for cold like that! And thirdly, we arrived at the stadium hours early and it was in pitch black. Like, the lights were off. Pitch black!

We waited patiently to get in as the lights were turned on about 20 minutes before kickoff as they were trying to conserve electricity as South Africa had been experiencing blackouts. When the lights went on I found myself beside this delegation of North Koreans. Who's to say it wasn't the future leader, Kim Jong Un? Although he apparently prefers basketball. Surreal indeed. But nothing beat the opening goal from the Brazilian right back, Maicon. It was incredible as you'll see in the video embedded below. Brazil were easy winners 2 - 1 despite the scoreline suggesting otherwise.

The next day I caught up with some old family friends of my grandparents living in Joburg, and we ventured into the center of town and got a tour of places I'd only ever heard about. For context, my parents and grandparents were born in South Africa, so it was amazing to see the things I'd never dreamed I'd be able to see. Thanks again Steven Blend and Justin Blend! Together with the Blends, we caught the train to the city of my Mother's birth, and South Africa's capital, Pretoria. En route to the world famous cauldron rugby stadium - Loftus Versfeld - we walked past some of South Africa's historic buildings and landmarks. Loftus is like an old school European soccer stadium where the crowd is right on top of the field and the players can hear the chants of praise and abuse.

The stadium is old, but as a big rugby fan, it was super cool to be there. By chance, midway thru the second half the Springbok rugby team quietly entered the stadium and watched the game beside me. Whoever said there's never a good time to make a pit-stop during a big sporting event? Suffice to say South Africa were awful and only lost 3 - 0. Train ride back was fun and South Africa was being a wonderful host country with great fans.

Next day it was back out to Soccer City to see Argentina playing South Korea. I really wanted to watch the Argies who had this up and coming pint-sized prodigy call Lionel Messi. Today, he's one of the most recognizable faces on Earth, but back then, he wasn't. Apparently, I wasn't the only person interested to see this kid for myself and with my own eyes. See the pic below of Messi I snapped, and notice the army of media and photographers following his every move. The constant clicking of their noisy cameras (remember technology has evolved since 2010) every time he touched the ball, breathed, moved, walked or flicked his fair, was loud and borderline annoying for the fans seated behind them but it was well worth it. It was also the most exciting game I had watched up until this point and Argentina triumphed 4 - 1 over the energetic but second best, South Koreans.

Back to home base and woke up for my last match in Joburg, this time back at Ellis Park for a sunny Friday afternoon kickoff. The later kickoff meant there was time to stop by the Gourmet Garage for a mouthwatering and delicious burger. Side note, Joel Katz the founder of the Gourmet Garage was the same genius behind the Grillhouse that I mentioned previously, and the same family founded the incredible Amsterdam Burger Company in New York on the Upper West Side. During my burger-fueled brunch the waiter asked me which match I was going to see, and I had to pause and look at my ticket as the trip to that point was becoming a blur! Looking at the ticket, I had to admit I was going to watch a country I'd never even heard of, playing a country that I had, with Slovenia taking on the USA. It was a very entertaining match and ended in a fair result, a 2 - 2 draw with a late equalizer for the Americans. The best thing I remember of the match was the awesome ambush marketing campaign from Slovenia with their iconic "I love Slovenia" t-shirts being worn in the crowd by hundreds of fans. I've been wanting to visit Slovenia ever since! Since then, Slovenia is well and truly on the map with their most famous export being First Lady Melania Trump who is doing a much better job for tourism in Slovenia than those cool t-shirts.

Saturday was my final match of the 2010 World Cup and fittingly, it was a return to Rustenburg for Australia to play Ghana in our second group game. Just a week earlier I was on a bus to and from Rustenburg with crazy drunken and angry English fans, that I somehow survived unscathed. This time around, I went in car with friends. Rustenburg is also the world's capital for the precious metal, Platinum. Despite our car braking down somewhere in the middle of Africa, it was just another bump in the road (so to speak) and we weren't going to let that stop us from making it in time for kickoff. Fair to say the Platinum Award for being awesome went to our fearless driver, Julius.

The fun on the ride to and from with my friends Brett, Hilton and Barry "Big Baz" Abkin was soon dampened by the hapless performance of the Socceroos in the crucial match that would ultimately decide their progress in the World Cup. Despite an early goal and Australia in control of the match, the curse on the Aussies continued with a debatable handball in the box, with a suspect penalty also awarded against Harry Kewell for the decision. It was double jeopardy. Not cool. Game over. It ended in a 1 - 1 draw and once again, Aussie fans felt we were robbed. But unlike in the Germany game, the Aussie fought to the death and did us all proud. No time to feel sorry for oneself, back to Joburg and pack up the bags for the airport and 14-hour flight home to Sydney, Australia, where I was living at the time.

Now I happily live in New York City, and my travels have shown me that if you can't make it to the respective host country, New York is probably the best place on Earth to watch the World Cup. In 2014, for the Brazil version, literally every single day there was a party in Manhattan with fans from all over the world gathering, celebrating, watching, partying and enjoying the beauty of the World Cup and what it means when you're in the most diverse city in the world. The other cool thing about New York is you get to stumble across people like Pele, as I did in 2016 when he also kind enough to autograph a Brazil shirt for me.

But, if you can't make the World Cup you can always watch it live on TV, stream it on your phone or get updates via Twitter. JPMorgan estimates the Twitter share price could benefit from the World Cup as it's well placed to capture new and growing ad revenues as fans around the world unite to tweet their views during matches and brands compete to get in front of those same fan's eyeballs.

Football is seriously awesome and so is the World Cup. It's called the World Game for a reason and nothing beats it. Enjoy the next month and may the best team, win.

Jeremy K. Balkin is the award-winning author of Millennialization of Everything: How to Win When Millennials Rule the World (RMB 2017)

Disclaimer: views my own.