The drive from Hazyview, our post-Nelspruit guesthouse, to Polokwane was a fairly interesting one. The scenery is more dramatic in the north of the country, or at least I'm led to believe, and there were certainly a few mountain ranges viewed on the route. We had time to check in to our guest house before today's game - an 8.30 kick off between France and Mexico. We listened to Argentina beating South Korea on the radio before arriving. From what I heard there was no change from their first game. Maradona's team can score at will, but are susceptible defensively.

To give you an idea how big this country is, our guesthouse - Kanniedood - was advertised as being in Mokopane (approx 50km south of Polokwane). In fact it was something like 15km from the town. Once we took the entrance to the guesthouse from the road, it was a further kilometre before we finally reached the property. The building is a little surreal, being constructed a long time ago. It feels like we are stepping back in time, with the only concession to modernity a wall mounted TV. I've a vague memory of seeing a movie with Greta Scacchi and Charles Dance set in Africa in the early part of the 20th century, the title of which I can't recall. The interiors were just like this place though, especially the rustic colour scheme.

It is not quite as cold here as it was in Johannesburg, but still chilly enough. We wrapped up well for the game and got into the stadium about 15 minutes before kick-off. France may have gone a goal down to a very dodgy piece of decision making by the linesman, but frankly, they got what they deserved from this match. They were woeful. Given the clubs these players play for - Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Lyon amongst others, there should be no excuse for the pair of performances we have witnessed so far. However, they are as good as out, as it can safely be assumed that Uruguay and Mexico will play out a draw in their final game to ensure both qualify.

Our seats were behind the goal, but we could see a large number of vacant ones near the press box, and were able to walk round to get a better pew. It also meant that, towards the end of the game, Luis Figo walked in front of us looking for an exit. I have to say he looks much younger in the flesh than he does on the box. More significantly, I remembered to take a vuvuzela into the stadium and have mastered blowing it.

The stadium itself was another newly built one, and as such, unsurprisingly good. Two of the corners featured San Siro-esque spiral towers that took an eternity to walk up and down. Looked good from the outside though. Why these are on only two of the corners, I could not say. Great views inside too. Mexico's win was not only a probable death knell to the chances of France progressing, but probably South Africa too. The tournament is only seven days old and the hosts are clinging on to the thread of their beating France and hoping Uruguay stuff Mexico. You'd get good odds on that particular double.

Tomorrow, a break, at least for me, as we return to Johannesburg, but do not have a game. Or at least, I don't. Adam will take a flight to Cape Town to see England play Algeria before returning to Jo'burg the following day. I'll be glad of the break and think he's mad. As he is returning to the UK two days before I do, it means he will see 15 games in total, to my 16.

We have done six stadiums of the ten now. Outstanding are Pretoria (Saturday evening for Cameroon v Denmark), Soccer City near Soweto (Brazil v Ivory Coast on Sunday), Rustenburg (Can't remember!) and Port Elizabeth (for the last 16 game on Saturday week). Also, there will only be one place we are staying now that we haven't before - a mate of our Jo'burg host Martin's in Port Elizabeth. The stress of finding new places (especially in the dark) in unfamiliar areas is now more or less done. I am sure we will get decent directions to our Port Elizabeth host and will be arriving lunchtime, so at least we will be able to see the relevant landmarks/signs with ease. Uncertainty is always a potentially stressful factor when travelling in a country with a reputation for danger. However, in fairness, we've not yet encountered any hostility or felt our safety was being compromised. I need a haircut and saw a couple of places on the road yesterday that cut mens' hair, situated amidst ramshackle structures on the edge of black settlments that were trading various goods . I wish we'd had time to stop and I could have experienced a haircut in such an environment. But time was the enemy and in fairness, Adam is very cautious about stopping at places where he sees the potential for trouble. There's a debate about being better safe than sorry against experiencing things at the risk of events turning negative. I tend to lean towards the latter, but can understand the desire not to take chances.

My own view is that a lot of it is to do with attitude, although it does depend on the area. There are places where, frankly, anyone is likely to get mugged regardless of their behaviour, not least in Johannesburg. I was interested to hear Martin mention that a lot of white people go to Soweto's bars for a night out - enjoying the atmosphere. That is certainly a step towards full-blown integration. Additionally, I remember Ian's wife Annie (in Durban) stating that mixed race couples are becoming more common, something that wasn't seen only ten years ago. I know this is supposed to be a football-based diary, but the race issue is so prominent in this country that it is impossible to give impressions of the trip whilst pretending it is less significant than it is. And the triumph of this tournament is unquestionably the melting of barriers. Football - previously a black sport in this country - is seeing spectators of all creeds and colours attending matches.

On a more prosaic note, there is a strange protruding lump on the side of our front driver side tyre. It sure doesn't look right, but we have done a fair bit of driving since noticing it. Our host in Mokopane, Dinnie (not sure of the spelling, but that's the pronounciation) was most concerned about it and was offering to ring Hertz and agree for a local place to sort it out. Good of him, but our schedule simply doesn't have space for such unscheduled diversions. We will get it looked at by the Hertz office at the airport when I drop off Adam for his flight to Cape Town.