World Cup Diary: As the teams go out, the media scrum gets smaller

World Cup Diary / Dave Farrar / 27 June 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

An integral part of the tournament - the media surround Maradona for an interview

Dave Farrar has had to bid farewell to a few comrades these last few days but there's plenty of joy to be had with those who have remained

"If Mexico do bow out, they’ll take with them some of the best fans of this tournament, and some of its most colourful journalists. Huge men with creaking bellies and an endless supply of rhetoric, and impossibly beautiful women, both sexy and entirely unapproachable at the same time."

The cold reality of this time at any World Cup starts to bite unusually rapidly, and the 'always tomorrow' nature of the start of the Group Stage is replaced by something far more cutthroat. If you lose, you go home, and that's the end of the party.

Broadcasters build teams at the IBC next to Soccer City based on guesswork: an idea of just how far their country will go. And it's particularly true of the smaller nations. The BBC, for example, will have a massive presence whether England stay in or not, but over the past couple of days I've seen a borderline maniacal Serbian cameraman packing his bags and muttering, and a Slovakian editor shaking his head at the amount of work that he has been left with. I last saw the Serbian slamming his door and gunning his car like a B movie detective in a hurry. I hope that he made it to the airport, and to Belgrade, in one lunatic piece, and I hope he doesn't bump into Marko Pantelic anytime soon.

We waved goodbye to a massive proportion of French and Italian journalists late last week. Of course, some will stay until the bitter end, but there's something slightly depressing about seeing a truck piled with equipment, on its way back to Europe. The boxes say "Handle with Care", "Maneggiare con Cura", "Controler avec soin". The number of shrugs and waves goodbye, of sadness and at times relief, make you wonder if the teams could have been treated the same way. The French story, for one, will keep journalists back home busy for the rest of the summer and beyond, while Claudio Prandelli will be left with the job of making sure that Italy take the right team into the European Championship qualifiers.

The greatest joy, for all of their increased workload, comes when you see the faces of those associated with teams that weren't expected to progress, and have. The Uruguayan legion, which seems to be growing by game, was in great form in the canteen yesterday. Luis Suarez being toasted with bottles of beer and gigantic slices of pizza. The Koreans are as polite as the South Americans are bullish. A couple of nods of the head and a return to the office to check flight times. The view that one nation wanted it more is neatly encapsulated in those opposing reactions.

I'm nervous for Mexico, because I think that their journey will probably end on Sunday at Soccer City, but it promises to be one heck of a night, one whole bundle of atmosphere. If Javier Aguirre's team does bow out, they'll take with them some of the best fans of this tournament, and some of its most colourful journalists. Huge men with creaking bellies and an endless supply of rhetoric, and impossibly beautiful women, both sexy and entirely unapproachable at the same time. It makes me think that Mexico City must be a bit like Paris: a magical mix of occasional joy, constant overconfidence, and cool girls to look at, but never talk to.

The majority of Japanese reporters seem to be chancing press passes, and physically trying to follow their team, and the same is of course true of the English legions. There are plenty of predictably brash Americans, dressed uniformly in crap jeans and bomber jackets, but they'll be leaving us now, all because of Ghana. And the Africans were the stars of Saturday, and were toasted everywhere in Johannesburg. The looks on the faces of every African journalist, and every Bafana Bafana fan, told you that this World Cup has been richly enhanced by the presence of one of their teams in the final eight. It may be looked upon as naïve back in Europe, but this continent believes that an African nation may be about to win the World Cup, and even for someone who has a bet on Uruguay to reach the semi-finals, and to win the tournament, it's hard not to get carried along on the tide. I'll forget my pocket, and hope they win it, really hope they win it.

So the huge complex that has been home for the last four weeks is starting to empty, and there's suddenly room at the tables, fewer queues for the internet. But as the party ends for so many, you get the impression the nightly noise of dreams on the line tells you that it's only just begun.

Tags: BBC, Luis Suarez, Marko Pantelic, Mexico, World Cup