World Cup unleashes the big kid!
Maccabi NSW Executive Board member Max Futeran has just returned from a 2½ week trip in South Africa enjoying every moment of the World Cup experience with his brother, Colin.
Max told Maccabi News, “It’s terrific to feel like a 20 year old instead of a 44 year old. I just enjoyed the freedom and the pure obsession of being involved with the game 24/7.” Max and his brother went to seven live matches, five in Cape Town and two in Nelson Mandela Bay also known as PE which involved a nine hour drive from Cape Town each way. When they were not watching live matches they could be found in pubs or in marquees around various sites watching, at times, two matches at once on the big screens. One may say that they were overdosing on the World Cup experience but for Max it was a trip of a lifetime and one he will never forget.
Max reported, “The experience was incredible with around 64,000 fans at each match getting fully involved. They were blowing their vuvuzelas, chanting songs or creating a roar of atmosphere which made the arena rumble. I found the crowd to be well behaved, friendly and at all times felt very safe. If I have anything negative to say it would be that this World Cup demonstrated the need for the introduction of technology. Referees are only human but the effects of poor decision making is just too great to go unchallenged. The two red cards in the Australian games and the English goal not given were really good examples of game changing errors. I found it interesting that there were no replays on the big screen in the stadiums “to protect the officials”. I said at the time and now FIFA seem to reluctantly accept technology is needed. The players, the countries and the spectators are investing too much time and money into the sport for corrections not to be able to be made.”
Speaking to Max it was clear that the last 2½ weeks has been spent eating and breathing only soccer and that his childhood love of Liverpool was still alive and well. Max was very pleased to note that the Aussies were the third highest group of visitors to the event and according to Visa, were spending up big! Max is hoping this will add weight to our 2022 bid for the World Cup Down Under.