On Tuesday last week we arrived in Jo'burg knowing that little more than 18 hours later, we'd be on the road again. Our host Martin was good enough to give us a lift to Ellis Park to see Brazil v North Korea and pick us up afterwards. For our second game at the venue, bouyed by the confidence gained in driving around the city, we made our own way there to see Spain face Honduras in our hire car. We got a taste of the Johannesburg rush hour with Martin, but this was the real deal. Leaving about 4.30, we took the direct route and found ourselves wondering how people could endure this crawl on a daily basis. On the assumption that if there were alternative routes, they'd use them, then the short stretch of road it took us about an hour to get down to get on the M1 road south was presumably a very familiar one for many of the others queuing with us. There is really no alternative to using the car. It is a large city with no public transport system to speak of. The road is the only way to get anywhere. Johannesburg is what happens when there are simply too many cars for the existing road capacity.

Fortunately, leaving four hours before kick off, we factored in enough time for the jam. We predictably met more traffic near the stadium itself. There were scores of locals offering safe parking, and we hooked up with one youth who directed us into an underground parking lot. We gave him 50 rand for his efforts and the assumption that the car would indeed be safe. It wasn't the kind of place you'd park under normal circumstances. The alternative is booking a place for 50 rand in a park and ride and bussing it in. I guess there is something to be said for this, but we've just kind of gone with what we know. And we managed to get home in decent time with Martin last week. Post-match, once you leave the stadium area, it's a clear run.

There were some South African Indians who were parked in the same place and they offered us a beer. It was a nice gesture and I agreed. Adam isn't a big drinker, but he went along with it and we had a good chat with these guys. I was also given some rum and felt very happy all of a sudden. Fortunately, Adam was fine to drive home after the game. These guys were genuinely warm and it is nice that football can create situations where you end up spending time getting on with complete strangers that you would never talk to under normal circumstances. There was even talk of them inviting us round for a curry if we had the opportunity, but our schedule in this city just doesn't leave time for it. As it is, there are lots of things Martin would like to take us to see, but our evenings are at football stadiums and daytime he's working.

Having stopped for some chat, we only had 30 minutes to use the internet in the place near the stadium we killed time in last Tuesday. This time, the door was open rather than locked, so they were evidently feeling a bit more relaxed. It was nice not to enter the stadium quite so early, although we'd paid the price by taking a couple of hours to travel from Martin's to the stadium area. At least we could listen to Chile beat Switzerland on the radio in the car. A trick I think FIFA always miss is to show the matches from elsewhere in the stadiums for people that arrive early.

Ellis Park was in better shape for our second visit. No powercuts, and screens at both ends working. Our seats were close to the halfway line and we anticipated a few goals from the Spaniards. It was a decent enough game, although I think the 2-0 victory was a little lower than the Iberians would have hoped for, especially after Portugal showed the way earlier in the day with their demolition of North Korea. That game is the last one that will be played at 1.30 (12.30 in the UK) as tomorrow the final set of matches begin with games at 4 and 8.30. We only attended a single early game in the flesh, Honduras v Chile in Nelspruit. It was nice to have a decent chunk of the day after the match, and the weather was sunny to boot.

Back to Ellis Park, and fortunately the cold snap seems to have passed. The sub zero temperatures of last week have passed and, although not warm, it was certainly bearable. Cesc Fabregas made his first appearance at the tournament. The beard certainly makes him look older. It was strange to think that there is every chance I will never see him play in an Arsenal shirt again. I thought he made a decent contribution and certainly seems to have recovered from his late-season injury. However, his influence did not add to the goals tally. What the permutations are for Spain to progress I am not certain of beyond being fairly certain they have to beat Chile. Switzerland will surely beat Honduras and end with six points.

After the game, we planned a quick getaway. I have to say that the phenomenon of early leavers is not restricted to Arsenal. What we tend to do is head to the exit in the stand we are in and grab a couple of empty seats when injury time begins, legging it the moment the final whistle is blown. The empty seats are there because a lot of others leave before the game is over, the exodus sometimes beginning before the 80th minute. I guess people want to beat the traffic or get on one of the first shuttle buses to the park and rides. I think if you delay, the getaway probably takes a lot longer, and in fairness, Ellis Park is situated in an area you wouldn't want to hang around too long for after 11 at night.

However, our plans to get moving were curtailed by our parkers having put a vehicle right in front of our hire car. The guy parked next to us managed to get out, leaving room for us to make an exit, but we were delayed by 20 minutes. The Indian guys we spoke to before the game told us the form was 50 rand before the game and 50 after when you return to the car and it is as it was when parked. I gave the people there 20 due to the hassle of our not being able to make a clean getaway. Fortunately it didn't create an incident, but our doors were quickly locked from the inside just in case.

We got back to Martin's at about 11.30, the road obviously much clearer than when we had made the journey to the stadium. I've one more visit there, next Monday when the winners of Brazil's group - either them or Portugal, barring a miracle for Ivory Coast - will play the team finishing second in Spain's group. Having seen both Brazil and Spain play in this stadium, it would be an absolutely cracking afffair if the two pre-tournament favourites were to meet in the first knockout round.