We left the Mokopane area in good time for Adam to get his plane to Cape Town and the Friday evening England game. For those following this diary, Hertz had no spare cars at Johannesburg's Lanseria airport, which is their solution as opposed to swapping a dodgy tyre, so I will sort this out before picking up Adam at the bigger Oliver Tambo airport on Saturday, after which we head for Pretoria and another stadium to be checked off the list.

As I have a day off from attending matches, I will reflect a little on the tournament itself. I have no idea about the perception of it back in the UK, but there seems little doubt too many of the games have lacked both drama and quality, However, few here care about that. The country is determined to party, and within the stadiums, the atmosphere more than compensates for those games which are probably dull as ditchwater on TV. Apparently, there are lots of complaints about the vuvuzelas, but even watching games on the box, I have to say they don't trouble me. Inside the stadium, they are integral to the experience. I said to Adam during a game recently that this was a totally unique World Cup as I couldn't foresee anything like this happening again in my lifetime. And for that reason, I am glad I came, even though I was having second thoughts just prior to departure. I've got a sh*tload of stuff to take care of when I return to the UK, but for now, am just drinking in this country and this tournament.

Fortunately, in the last couple of days, drama has begun to arrive in decent doses. The victories of Switzerland, Mexico, Serbia and the draw between the USA and Slovenia have thrown up surprise results with a fair bit of drama along the way. The feeling is that as caution has to be dispensed with, the matches are becoming far more entertaining, and surely this will only continue. I'm not sure why there were so few goals in the early games. Some blame the design of the ball. Altitude is surely not the issue, although that is one theory for so many shots flying high and wide. It doesn't explain some of the low scoring matches witnessed at the three coastal venues though. Another possible explanation is that some of the players are just plain knackered after their domestic seasons. For me, it is more a case of defences on top. There are some very efficient offside traps and on other occasions, well drilled defences have proved very difficult to break down. As sides have to take more chances to gain more than solitary points, this should correct itself, as already seems to be happening.

I don't know if reports of problems over here have reached the UK, but one big issue is the security stewards that check spectators when they enter the stadiums not being paid at the promised rate. They have gone on strike at many stadiums and the police have taken over the searching. It is a shame when an employer cuts promised pay and I have sympathies for those striking. An unfortunate case of profiteering on the part of the concern in charge of the staff, who one assumes pocketed the money for this work from FIFA.

Additionally, there have been transport problems ferrying fans to a couple of venues. Both Soccer City and Rustenburg have been criticised on this front. I have yet to experience either, so all I can say is so far, so good. Hopefully, problems will be ironed out after the first games. We'll see.

Late PS - Just seen the England game. The national team are reverting to type in spite of the manager. Still, I guess this is the way World Cups are won. Play a couple of stinkers in the group stage and then pick up some form once you get out of the group, which England will do if they beat Slovenia. All it really means is that the knockout stage has started a game early. I'd say that a victory should be likely on the basis that England can't play this badly again. Nevertheless, the Saturday morning papers sure won't make pleasant reading for Fabio Capello and his men.