Robin Toskin in South Africa
Bafana Bafana’s 2-0 victory over New Zealand in the Fifa Confederations Cup was the spark Pretoria needed to erupt into wild celebrations on Wednesday night.
Those interviewed by FeverPitch proclaimed their team can go on to beat revered Spain in the last group game.
The glory-starved residents of this city, alternately called Tshwane, poured onto the streets in droves, the young and the old, some in pyjamas and Vuvuzelas to hand, motorists hooting brazenly to celebrate Bernard Parker’s brace at Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
Gunshots interspersed the orgy of celebration prompting patrol police to intervene to try and chase the frenzied but peaceful youths off the streets.
"The police should not dampen our spirits. This victory means a lot to us South Africans especially after that disappointing draw against Iraq," a woman in her mid thirties, Sinoria Nkuna told FeverPitch.
"Bring on Spain now. We needed this victory badly to get us started," said Claudia Baloyi.
"We have showed we can at least compete and the fans too we played our part. Those who were in the Stadium and us out here," she added.
No sooner had the match ended than fans following proceedings from giant screens at Church Square, set off to the streets to celebrate.
The youths, singing traditional South African songs trudged along Prinsloo Street and the numbers grew as they were joined by families who were watching the match from their living rooms.
After the 0-0 draw against Iraq, pressure was on Brazilian coach Joel Santana to conjure some magic to save face and at the same time put a smile to Bafana Bafana fans who have known heartache only in recent years. Despite the win, Santana was unhappy with his side since he wanted them to beat the All Whites by a bigger margin.
