Published>Sat, Jul 03 10 07:18 PM
The blue and white colours of Argentina dominated the scene at Cape Town's sunny waterfront on Saturday as fans of the South American side danced to a pounding bass drum chanting "Maradona, Maradona."
Amused locals, many giving their yellow Bafana Bafana shirts another outing despite South Africa's exit almost two weeks ago, smiled and clapped while Germans made joking penalty kick gestures.
Argentina will face Germany at Cape Town's Green Point stadium later looking to claim a semi-final spot and lay to rest the frustrations of four years ago when Germany knocked them out on penalties at the same stage of the German hosted World Cup.
"We will rewrite history today and win 2-0," said Adrian Romerzaro, a 30-year-old businessman from Rosario in Argentina.
"The team has been incredible, and the warmth and focus they have around Maradona is absolutely unique, no other coach has ever achieved that. He is an idol," he added.
Maradona's long history as a player, colourful personal life and his pitch-side antics as a coach have helped make Argentina hugely popular with South Africans, who flocked in their thousands to the stadium.
"I've followed all their games, they are a great passionate team, and I guess I also like their light blue colour," said Estine Johnston, 27, gesturing to her new sky blue Argentina shirt and confessing she knew very little about football.
"I wanted to be there and part of the atmosphere," she said.
Clusters of German fans enjoyed an early beer in the sunshine and recalled the excitement of four years ago when Germany reached a surprise World Cup third place finish.
The current young squad has already surpassed a lot of expectations, particularly in their 4-1 defeat of England in the second-round.
"I've had to extend my holiday and postpone my flight," said German fan Sebastian Gielen, a 29-year-old telecoms worker from Bonn, sporting a black, red and gold necklace, a German flag and German football shirt.
"I never thought we would get this far. There is a long, exciting history of meetings with Argentina so this will be a great game. But to be honest my head is still spinning after that amazing victory over England," he said.
Saturday's quarter-final clash between Argentina and Germany will be a repeat of the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals, the first won by an Argentina squad featuring Maradona and the second by Germany.
Source: Web Search
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