South African politicians tend to burden the sport with overblown expectations. A spokesman for the South African Young Communist League, Castro Ngobese, recently called on Bafana Bafana to "apply militancy and radicalism" to its play -- whatever that meant.
But to the newcomers who came to support their team for the first time Sunday, none of that mattered. To Emma, her brother Alex, 12, and a family friend, Max Coleman, 8, figuring out how to get sound out of a vuvuzela was more important than who won or lost. They got some advice on how to blow their vuvuzelas from a young black fan.
They sat amid a sea of blacks, many of whom took photos of the family.
"I felt excited and happy," said Alex Jordi, who plays soccer at school. "I felt proud." Most of all, he loved being part of the crowd. "They were friendly. They sing, and they support their team."
Sunday was Emma's first soccer match. "I thought it would be really boring and that it was going to be poorly organized," she said, explaining why she initially preferred the idea of doing homework. "But I felt really safe and proud of South Africa and what they'd done."
The Jordis and Max were taken aback at what sounded like boos every time the lone white South African player got near the ball.
"A young black guy sitting behind us, about 20 years old, explained to us that it wasn't that people were booing. He said, 'People are shouting out his name, and his name is Booth,' " said Jane Jordi.
Anthony Prangley, a 32-year-old white, got tickets for all the main games as soon as they went on sale, even though he rarely watches soccer.
"I'm really passionate about the potential of these big events to unite South Africans," he said. "It was an incredible spirit. It was a very multiracial crowd."
For him and many others, the best moment Sunday was when the anthem "Shosholoza" rose above the stadium in Johannesburg. The Zulu song, meaning "Push forward," was once sung by black workers.
"I have never heard such a stirring rendition of 'Shosholoza,' ever. To hear the song reverberating across the stadium was very moving," Prangley said. Despite a few organizational glitches -- the food and beer ran out -- he said the event succeeded in uniting the crowd.
"There was both class and race united behind their country. I found the whole energy of the crowd amazing," he said.
To Jane Jordi, the team's performance didn't matter as much as that sense of unity: "I didn't feel white. I just looked white," she said. "It made me feel that South Africa would be able to host something absolutely amazing" next year.
Emma Jordi's verdict about Sunday's match? "I loved it! I felt quite disappointed that we didn't win. But I was really glad we didn't lose."
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robyn.dixon@latimes.com
