Brazil Day 28 - Argentina through on penalties in the rain

Blimey! It's nearly midnight as I write this, after finishing my edit of all the leftovers from tonight's semi final which saw Argentina beat Holland on penalties.Be sure to check out the gallery on the Focus Images website.My first World Cup penalty shootout. What an experience. The game itself was pretty dire, with Holland being very cagey and, I thought, negative. About 10 minutes into the game I commented to the photographer on my right that it looked like extra time. He nodded sagely.Being a massive game, I got the first media bus out of the hotel here in Sao Paulo to get to the stadium in good time. This meant arriving at about 08:30, for a 17:00 kickoff. Some sort of a record for me, but one that I suspect I'll break on Sunday for the final assuming I get in. I didn't take any pictures of Sao Paulo on the way because it looks pretty similar to last time I was here i.e. un-photogenic. A queue had already formed to get into the media entrance, which didn't open until 09:00. It was delightfully cool as well, a lovely fresh change to the stickiness of Rio.

As you can see above, much queueing ensued in what has now become the way of things. Long gone are the group stages where there were only 60 photographers at a game and I was in Group 1. Here I am in Group 3, behind photographers from Argentina, Holland, Germany and Brazil, which is quite a lot, as well as being even further behind the Getty/Reuters/AFP big agencies of course.

I ended up with seat 230, which I chose somewhat off-the-cuff. I was under instructions from THE EDITOR at Focus Images to get headshots and the team group shot of the Argentinian team, so that meant I should position myself on the right side of the pitch as the main TV camera looks at it. This is because the first named team lines up on the left and the second named team lines up on the right. Magic!

Most of the "good" spots were gone i.e. those in the corners. I could either get a slot well along the far touchline which I didn't really like last time I did it, or a position on the goal line but quite close into the goal. The latter is always a bit risky as there tend to be TV cameras everywhere and the goal net blocks off the other corner. However, I fancied not fighting the snappers on my left and right for space and knew if I took this slot I'd be facing mostly up the pitch with them so the side-to-side lens battles would be minimised. I'd also be in front of the main block of Argentina supporters. In the end, I was well chuffed with my position, which actually had a bit of space around it and was not too close to the goal.

I had a big buffet lunch with chicken and salad and fruit and stuff, a good approach seeing as I wasn't sure when I'd eat again (I haven't yet - breakfast tomorrow will be my dinner tonight). After many hours in the media centre it was nice to actually get out onto the pitch.

It was threatening to rain, so I put my rain plan into place. I had the delightful luxury of THE EDITOR in London remote-editing my shots today, which is such a massive benefit it is hard to overstate how much better it makes things. This meant that I could leave my laptop running in my Peli case under my chair out of the rain, with my card reader tucked under my leg, and simply slot memory cards in and have the images automagically transferred to Focus HQ in the UK while the rain poured down. I did have to waterproof my WiFi router and power supply plug though, using a plastic bag bought along for that specific job.

The game itself was a bit dire to be honest. There were long periods of silence from the camera shutters around me for quite a bit of the game. Holland seemed to be playing a fairly negative game, passing around the back until the boos of the crowd almost seemed to force them to play forward. I sent a few action pictures, but more to let THE EDITOR know that I was still alive and to stop him nodding off with the dullness of it all. I looked around for some off-the-ball pictures and the feisty Argentines arguing among themselves were forthcoming.Thankfully all the comms worked perfectly. There are so many things that can go wrong that, when it all works it is almost miraculous. The problem with having the laptop in my Peli case is that I don't get any confirmation that the pictures are sending, so blind faith is in order. Perhaps that Cristo Redentor visit paid off after all.The predicted extra time arrived, which was predictably goal-less. Penalties were coming. The most important thing is to know which end they are going to take them towards. I watched the referee intently with my 400mm and when he pointed my way I was delighted. This meant no need to trek around to the other side of the pitch. I had a tiny bit of time available to unlock my Peli case, which I'd locked up a few minutes earlier (chained to my chair) so if I did have to make a move my gear would be safe. I fired up my laptop again, checked the connection and a quick Skype confirmed we were online to HQ, tucked it back in the propped-open case, and we were ready to go.Having never photographed a World Cup penalty shootout, but being a qualified FA referee, I already knew roughly how it would go but hadn't realised how rapidly things progress. I had planned to send pics from each penalty after it had happened, but there wasn't time between them to do so. I did manage to send a few off during the slightly longer gaps which allowed me to swap cards quickly.Thankfully the scoreboard keeps tally for us, but even I knew that if Rodriguez scored then Argenitina would win. Focused on the kickers every time (as the keeper was blocked by the post and net), I had no idea where the penalties went, only knowing the result by the crowd reaction and the kicker's. All the celebrations went to the other corner until at the end when the Argentina players all came over directly in front of me to celebrate with the massive contingent of their fans behind me. Lots of emotion at the final whistle as you might expect. I focused on Messi quite a bit as he's the skipper, he'd scored, and is bound to be newsworthy.Overall, the ending was excellent. A long day, a pretty dull game, but the penalties were very cool. Brilliant work by THE EDITOR back in London to make sense of the stuff I was sending and get it shifted out so rapidly to the papers. As I say, this makes a huge difference to my ability to concentrate on the shooting. Tomorrow, back to Rio and the wait to see if I get accredited for the final on Sunday - I'll be delighted if that happens!