...as everybody with access to ESPN/Fox knows, will be the World Cup this June in South Africa. Despite the concerns of many pessimists, myself included, concerned with the danger and expenses involved in staging an international tournament in the country, I have started to get excited about it and cannot wait for June.
However, the warm-up event for many of us is of course the Africa Cup of Nations 2010. Held in Angola, and already splashed across the news for the disastrous shooting of the Togo team bus (and subsequent shameful disqualification of the team from the tournament), the Africa Cup of Nations is reaching the knockout stages, sometimes lurching haphazardly onwards, but occasionally showing what a delight football at this level is.
There are very few prima donnas. Goalkeepers are never where they are supposed to be. Strikers shoot from halfway, and sometimes score. Players from muslim countries celebrate goals by bowing their heads in prayer to kiss the turf, while players from other countries simply double front-flip in front of the adoring crowd. The manager is often left stranded on the side of the pitch, shaking his head in disbelief as his team self-destruct (the opening game is a good example of this) or stupefied with glee as another improbable goal rolls into the back of the net. The underdogs always stand a chance; the favourites never win.
Having said the above, both yesterday's 0-0 draw between Angola and Algeria which saw both teams go through but which the Algerians admitted to be only playing for a draw, followed by the insipid and unconvincing 1-0 win by Ghana over Burkina Faso, have slightly taken the shine off a tournament that was regaining some stability after the unfortunate start. Let's hope that the next round can produce matches more like this and this.
Suscribirse a:
Enviar comentarios (Atom)
In the 19th Century, they would slave them at gunpoint. In the 21st Century, they still look down on them. Will you ever going to learn?
ResponderEliminarSurely, Marce, the fact that you consider the footballers of Africa and the many peoples they represent, as 'them', shows that your own position cannot be too disimilar. I don't look down on 'them', I just believe that this tournament is football at its purest. That was the point I was trying to make; I apologise if it came across as offensive.
ResponderEliminar