Cardiff (1)

Tom and I drove to Penarth this morning and parked up at Pete's flat. Its a good size two bed roomed flat with a wonderful view over Cardiff bay and the city including the Millennium Stadium.

After a cup of coffee we took the bus into central Cardiff and had a look around. The city was filling up with visitors, many decked out in Union Flags and Team GB colours. A parade, part of the Cardiff Carnival, added to the noise and bustle of the city centre.

We had lunch in Zizzi's and later coffee in Nero. We had been advised to get to the stadium two hours before kick-off to ensure clearance through security. When we arrived just before six there were hundreds of people milling around and queues has started forming at the security gates, even though kick-off wasn't until 7:30.

Security was thorough, though it didn't take two hours and we were soon in our seats at the back of lower tier on the side towards one end.

It was a good match and the 70,000 strong crowd were very vocal making for a great atmosphere. The match went to the wire with a penalty shootout decider, unfortunately in Korea's favour, though the best team did win.