Those of you who were around during the last World Cup will remember that I am an aficionada of world-class football (not entirely incompatible with supporting Charlton Athletic), and have the offside rule engraved on my heart. As a gel, my poster boys were Johann Cruyff, Mick Channon, Pele and the immortal George Best as well as Lord Byron, Che Guevara and David Cassidy. However club football in Europe has become corrupted by money, TV rights and supermodels, and when a comely ignoramus is invited to no.10 Downing Street to advise the Prime Minister I think we've given the ball away.
A world-class football tournament has just started in Accra, Ghana. The 26th African Cup of Nations showcases the best 16 national teams from all over the continent, who between them can field a dozen or more Premiership players,
not to mention as many again from the top clubs of continental Europe. Anyone who follows the beautiful game could name a handful of top class African players off the top of their head: Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, El Hadj Diouf to name but three. In contrast to some of our home-grown overpaid publicity-mad thugs and chavs, many of the African stars, such as Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu, have used their wealth to give something back to their home countries, and George Weah, the Liberian who held the African Footballer of the Year, European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year awards simultaneously in 1995, even ran for President in last year's elections. Thankfully he lost against the former Vice President of the World Bank, which is possibly good news for the Liberian economy. I do hope Beckham isn't getting any ideas.
Africa is the new South America as far as football is concerned. African players are fast, skilled, courageous, stylish, daring and motivated. They don't dive or play for time. They go for goals, goals, and more goals. Not a minute on the pitch is wasted. They attack and defend with equal dedication. From their animal-crackers team nicknames (Super Eagles of Nigeria, the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, the Squirrels of Benin) to their inventive and comical goal celebrations, African players put the fun back into football. The Beninois tried psyching out the opposition with intimations of supernatural practices (Benin is the home of voodoo) but the result of their first match against Cote d'Ivoire showed that if elephants are afraid of mice, as is believed, they're not spooked by squirrels. Benin were thrashed 4-1 and have sacked their juju man.
When we lived in Accra, Harold joined the supporters club of Hearts of Oak, known to fans as "Phobia", and thereby gained a speedy entry to Ghanaian male society (and bars). Watching the joyful scenes on Thursday night when Ghana beat Namibia in their second match in the group, after victory over Guinea last Sunday, in my mind I was dancing down Osu High Street in a conga line clutching a bottle of "Stah Beah" (Star Beer).
I am supporting the Black Stars of Ghana in ACN2008, with the Super Eagles of Nigeria as a fallback if Ghana get knocked out. The BBC has a full guide of all the teams competing and match schedules. The final will be on February 10th.
Woyaya? Woyaya?
A world-class football tournament has just started in Accra, Ghana. The 26th African Cup of Nations showcases the best 16 national teams from all over the continent, who between them can field a dozen or more Premiership players,
not to mention as many again from the top clubs of continental Europe. Anyone who follows the beautiful game could name a handful of top class African players off the top of their head: Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, El Hadj Diouf to name but three. In contrast to some of our home-grown overpaid publicity-mad thugs and chavs, many of the African stars, such as Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu, have used their wealth to give something back to their home countries, and George Weah, the Liberian who held the African Footballer of the Year, European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year awards simultaneously in 1995, even ran for President in last year's elections. Thankfully he lost against the former Vice President of the World Bank, which is possibly good news for the Liberian economy. I do hope Beckham isn't getting any ideas.
Africa is the new South America as far as football is concerned. African players are fast, skilled, courageous, stylish, daring and motivated. They don't dive or play for time. They go for goals, goals, and more goals. Not a minute on the pitch is wasted. They attack and defend with equal dedication. From their animal-crackers team nicknames (Super Eagles of Nigeria, the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, the Squirrels of Benin) to their inventive and comical goal celebrations, African players put the fun back into football. The Beninois tried psyching out the opposition with intimations of supernatural practices (Benin is the home of voodoo) but the result of their first match against Cote d'Ivoire showed that if elephants are afraid of mice, as is believed, they're not spooked by squirrels. Benin were thrashed 4-1 and have sacked their juju man.When we lived in Accra, Harold joined the supporters club of Hearts of Oak, known to fans as "Phobia", and thereby gained a speedy entry to Ghanaian male society (and bars). Watching the joyful scenes on Thursday night when Ghana beat Namibia in their second match in the group, after victory over Guinea last Sunday, in my mind I was dancing down Osu High Street in a conga line clutching a bottle of "Stah Beah" (Star Beer).
I am supporting the Black Stars of Ghana in ACN2008, with the Super Eagles of Nigeria as a fallback if Ghana get knocked out. The BBC has a full guide of all the teams competing and match schedules. The final will be on February 10th.
Woyaya? Woyaya?
17 comments:
You are right about the Africans' style of playing.
Unfortunately, television broadcasters seem to accord a lot more of importance to the European Premier League than tournaments like these.
The Africans can't defend. I don't see them winning a world cup unless they draft in a few white defenders. With me in goal they would never lose a match, but sadly for them I have renounced football as a game for ruffians.
Ah, but Daphne, do you dress up in full Ghanaian market lady outfits to be a real supporter?
I've had two football fanatics in the family - Dad who supported Burnley and # 1 son who is Man U. I used to drive them demented because I forgot they changed ends at half time. Do you really understand off- side? I'm boggling!
What an education - now I can't stop watching tele every night.
Hey that Drogba's a mean machine. Has he had a corregated iron transplant?
Sidhu Sahib, the BBC bless 'em are broadcasting most of the ACN matches. Why aren't there any Indian footballers? Does cricket have more cachet? Or are they embarrassed to show their knees?
GB, Africans don't like playing in goal, they prefer the chase, it's atavistic. The devil makes work for idle hands, as Bruce Grobbelaar demonstrated. Have you noticed how all the Yanks who play in the Premiership are goalies?
Autolycus, the makket leddies are the cheerleaders of the kop, they get the Mexican wave going and keep the crowd supplied with peanuts and snacks.
Pat, Man Utd is not a team, it's a sickness. Does no.1 son have the official shirt? I bought one for Harold with his name on the back, so I could find him when he wandered off in the supermarket. It wasn't difficult, every other Man U shirt was worn by an under-10.
Gambo, I believe our team are quite active in giving young Africans a leg up, and scouting some talent for themselves along the way. Are you old enough to remember when they were known as The Valiants? From the name of their ground - the Valley. I have no idea where the name Addicks comes from - Haddocks?
Dear Daphne,
I'm afraid I am old enough to remember their nickname, The Valiants - chosen in a fan competition in the 1960s which also led to the adoption of the sword badge which is still in use.
'The Addicks' is from a local fishmonger, Arthur 'Ikey' Bryan, who rewarded the team with meals of haddocks and chips. The progression of the nickname can be seen in the book The Addicks Cartoons: An Affectionate Look into the Early History of Charlton Athletic, which covers the pre-First World War history of Charlton through a narrative based on 56 cartoons which appeared in the now defunct Kentish Independent. The very first cartoon, from October 31, 1908, calls the team the Haddocks. By 1910, the name had changed to Addicks although it also appeared as Haddick. The Addicks nickname never went away and was revived after the club lost its Valley home in 1985 and went into exile at Crystal Palace. It is now once again the official nickname of the club.
je ne ferais sans doute pas partie de l’elite mais j'donne quand même un avis :-(
Qu est-ce qu'un franchouillard connait au foot ?
Et bien comme c'est drôle ,nos entraineurs sont en Afrique ( Claude Leroy au Ghana ,Gérard Gili Côte d’Ivoire...)!
L'équipe des bleus est noir et s'habille de blanc !nos joueurs ne jouent pas en France les arbitres Français sont nuls , par contre près de chez moi il y a un p'tit village d'environ 150 pèlerins et bien ils ont une équipe de foot , ça c'est surprenant !! Les femmes des joueurs à tour de rôle font les lessives et tiennent la buvette ,que des boissons à base de fruit !
Well, I support Chelsea so I think I have a bit of all your critcisms and plaudits in my side. In fact we have the whole gamut - spoiled chavs with plasticine girlfriends (looking at you, Ashley), a good few Africans, and we can't defend. It also transpires we're finding the attacking part tricky too.
Gambo, thanks for the name of the book which I will order if it is still in print. My first visit to The Valley was under Eddie Firmani's stewardship. My uncle now aged 88 remembers kickabouts in the street with the Charlton players returning from training to their "digs" with local landladies long before the war. How times have changed! My grandmother washed their muddy shirts. We used to get the Kentish every week, I'm sorry to hear it's gone under. The nickname Haddocks is an open invitation to very rude insults, especially from Millwall fans who used to terrify me.
Crabtree, les footballeurs francais sont tellement apprecies en Angleterre qu'on les a tous piques! Il y a quelques annees il y avait un match amical a Wembley entre la France et l'Angleterre, et les trois quarts de l'equipe de France sont venus en taxi de chez eux. Tu te plains que les joueurs francais ne jouent pas en France mais ce n'est pas plus drole pour les fans anglais, certaines equipes n'ont pas un joueur anglais (suivez mon regard - voir ma reponse a Tom), encore plus rare de trouver un manager ou proprio natif a Albion. Ceci dit, Cantona est toujours Dieu a Old Trafford.
Tom, don't forget the Russian exiled billionaire owner which is also starting to be de rigueur for any self respecting Premiereship team these days. I also supported Chelsea temporarily in my youth, largely because of Peter Bonnetti who was my hero and some other pretty boy whose name I can't remember. See they didn't even have English names in those days!
Oh Daphne, I sense we could talk football for hours. Loved your response - what a colourful upbringing in SE London.
My Uncle (who would have been 88 also!!) spent much of his carreer in Africa and used to return with wonderful stories - he loved his footie and marvelled at the natural athletes out there.
Update: Ghana through to quarter finals after whopping Morocco 2-0. WOYAYAH!
Oh I wish I'd paid more attention. To the footie I mean. Anyhow you'll be pleased about Ghana.
Donc pour être sélectionné ( parmis les Français ) il faut impérativement parler couramment l’anglais ?
If I owed me expatrier I would choose Brussels, with the country of the chicory and the Red Devils!
Not to offer a balloon but a bouquet of friendship to you; -)
Hmmmmmm
Ghana V Nigeria in the quarter-finals.
Now you're going to have to pick one or the other.... ;-)
That is very interesting. I love the very idea of watching players abort the dramatic antics of the Italian Diving Champions!
It is refreshing to hear that something positive is happening in Afirca. Somebody alert the Media!
Kenya?
Perhaps 'soccer' as we Colonists refer to it, might help in some small way to ease the current inter-tribal savagery that has been released in the post Colonial Continent..."I say old chap, let's put a squiggly border here and here and name it after Cecil?"
On second thought, if European and South American Fans are indicative of the influence of sports FANaticism, it will prolly make it worse.
Pat, the only bit you need to pay attention to is after the final whistle when they all take their shirts off.
Crabtree, quel boulot d'etre le selectionneur des Diables Rouges ... toutes les instructions doivent etre donnes en deux langues!
Goth, I'm afraid the rest of the tournament is going to be eclipsed by the six nations rugby so I will have to follow the match results on the internet. Ghana or Nigeria ... hmm a tough call. Super Eagles not on top form lately. I'd still put my cowrie shells on Black Star.
HE, a border skirmish once broke out once between Cameroon and Gabon following a football match. African football would be made even more interesting if they substituted a juju man for the referee. Instead of tossing a coin at the beginning of the match he could sacrifice a chicken and read the entrails.
Post a Comment