Who Will Forget The Captain is Black?

David Patrick Lane — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 08:49:51 +0000

The odious John Terry has been relieved of his duties. There was always something wrong about a character like John Terry lifting the World Cup in South Africa. Fabio Capello has reportedly chosen Rio Ferdinand to replace him. A Black England Captain leading the Three Lions in Africa! If Captain Rio lifts the World Cup, who will “forget” he is black?

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Beyond the Pharoahs…

David Patrick Lane — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:25:39 +0000

Can Africa’s World Cup qualifiers respond and take their game to a higher level. There were precious few clues in Angola to suggest they could. One would tend not to identify Pussy Cats, Super Turkeys and Tuskless Elephants as World Cup winning species, but if Cameroon, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire apply themselves like Black Stars they could move beyond the shadow of the Pharoahs and rediscover their fierceness.

The Black Stars were not predicted to shine in Angola. A significant number of their established names were injured or sulking. But with Milovan Rajevec, an old Yugoslav in command of the x’s and o’s, and a squad of U20 World Cup winners to choose from, folks should not have been so surprised. There has been plenty of talk of those who filled the boots of Appiah, Essien, Mensah and Muntari. Agyemang-Badu, Asamoah, Ayew and Inkoom are now household names, the equal of any Pharoah or sulking star. Ghana’s graduates will give pause to Australia, Germany and Serbia, who should note the Pharoahs may not have been so pleased with themselves if Rajevec had also introduced goalkeeper Daniel Adjei and centre forward Dominic Adiyah. Ghana were just an Adjei fingertip and an Adiyah toe poke away from closing down the party at Club Pharoah.

So how will Les Éléphants, Les Lions Indomptables and Super Eagles respond to their inglorious exits from Angola? Will they promote from their junior ranks? Will they advertise for an old partizan with a chalkboard? They could do all of the above, but nothing will change for them if the likes of Drogba, Eto’s and Yakubu don’t believe.

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Props to the Pharoahs!

David Patrick Lane — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:20:36 +0000

The 2010 African Cup of Nations provided a political appetizer to Africa’s first World Cup. A stubborn stain remains, but it should not distract from Egypt’s remarkable three consecutive African Nations Cups.

Props to the Pharoahs! Hassan Shehata had them playing some seriously penetrating football. They were passing and moving like a Bob Paisley machine — and that’s the highest of all high compliments one can make about a football manager. Aboutrika, Mido and Zaki, all seemed like yesterday’s men, as precocious and timely talents like Shikabla and Geddo combined with creative mainstays like Hassan, Motaeb and Zidan to persuade the ball into their opponents net. Gomaa and El Hadary ensured there would be few arguments at the other end. The Pharoahs will be missed in South Africa, especially when some European adventurers hack their way South in search of the treasure that is avoiding defeat.

And how will Africa’s World Cup qualifiers respond? The Pharoahs provided a clinic, but there were also important lessons to be learned from the performances of Malawi and Zambia. In a word: BELIEVE.

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What Were They Thinking?!

Peter Alegi — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:55:17 +0000

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) banned Togo from the next two African Nations Cup tournaments and also imposed a $50,000 fine. “This decision is outrageous,” said Togo captain and Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor to the French newspaper L’Equipe on Sunday.

Togo returned home from the Nations Cup two days before the kickoff after two members of its delegation were killed in a terrorist attack on January 8 in Cabinda. CAF’s reason for punishing the victims is that it views the Togolese government’s decision to recall the team as ‘political interference’ in football affairs. The Togolese government intends to fight what it called the ‘insulting’ sanctions.

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2010 Mascot Made in Chinese Sweatshop?

Editor — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:33:30 +0000

The Sunday Times reports that Chinese workers earn about $3 a day making the official 2010 World Cup mascot. Trade union federation Cosatu spokesperson said: ‘We are utterly appalled that even Zakumi, the official mascot, is being made, under such appalling conditions, in China.’ The newspaper alleges that ‘a central figure in [the] scandal ‘ is an ANC member of parliament who stated that the deal was sanctioned by FIFA and its product licensing and brand management partner Global Brands Group (GBG). FIFA said it would look into working conditions at the Shanghai factory.

Click here to read the full article.

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Haiti’s Goal

David Patrick Lane — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:41:39 +0000

There have been goals in Benguela, Cabinda, Luanda and Lubango, but no goals are being scored in the Stade Slyvio Cator in Port-au-Prince. Haiti’s goalposts don’t exist anymore.

Angolans paused for Haiti before every Quarter Final, the carnage of their own wars against colonialism and as proxies in the Cold War never far from their thoughts. A nation blessed by the curse of geology showing solidarity with their brothers and sisters, torn asunder by the earth’s crust, an ocean apart.

France, Britain and the United States have a history of moving Haiti’s goalposts, naming and renaming Haiti’s coach and officials, tightening the touchlines, painting countless penalty spots across Haiti’s box, forcing Haitians to cheer from terraces made from shaky dumps of their own subsidized imports, with many supporters not able to read the terms and conditions of their own oppression as laid out in the match programme.

Haiti’s goalposts don’t exist anymore. The smashed and mangled uprights belong to the “Humanitarians” now. The Stade Slyvio Cator is a tent city with thousands crammed into the spaces once created by Haitian footballers. There are no calls for the ball, but for water, medicines, medical attention and food.

Like the African Cup of Nations, Haiti’s disaster is being broadcast across our globalized world. The world knows more about the grain and scale of Haitian suffering than any calamity it has ever encountered.

Our goal must be to help Haitians restore their own goalposts, and one day when Haitians are replenished with food, water, housing and control over their own lives, we can celebrate Haitian goals again.

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Confusão continua…

David Patrick Lane — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:58:12 +0000

CAF have announced Togo will be disqualified if they do not materialize for the kick off of their fixture against Ghana tonight in Cabinda.

Rumours abound whether Botswana, The Republic of the Congo or Namibia will be invited to do a “Denmark”.

Cabinda’s separatist rebels, FLEC, have apologized for the attack, claiming it was a mistake to attack the Togolese, and have presented their condolences to the families of the deceased.

Pessimists supported by hustlers and vultures from the security and shock industry continue to make fear representations to the press about South Africa’s World Cup.

And it now seems Confusão has rubbed off on the Algerian defence, who are being torn to shreds by Malawi.

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Arsène’s Respect for Africa

David Patrick Lane — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:11:08 +0000

The response to the attack on the Togolese team from much of the rabble that constitutes the English Premier League was predictable. The emirs and oligarchs did not say much, leaving it to some of the old fashioned brass merchants to bellow about bringing their players “home”.

Arsène Wenger was not of the same mind.

When asked if he wanted to bring his players back to Britain (where let’s not forget Irish continuity forces still use the occasional bullet and bomb), Wenger was a beacon of sensibility and preferred to express his respect for Africa.

“We won’t be asking Fifa to release them, and I’ll be happy for Eboué to play in Cabinda on Monday,” said Wenger. “I believe it would be disrespectful to Africa and the Africa Nations Cup [to bring them home]. You can’t always encourage Africa to develop and if something happens say ‘come back to Europe’.”

“I don’t believe you can just stop any competition for any incident, because that would be a reward for the people who provoke these atrocities. It would mean any competition could be stopped at any time. An international federation has to make sure the security is well respected and good enough for the event. Of course, you have to leave it individually to some players so that, if they feel insecure or scared, they have the possibility to come away from it. But I personally feel the competition has to go on.”

The English game is richer not because of emirs and oligarchs, but because of men like Arsène Wenger who still live and breath football.

(I am sure some would like to trigger a discussion about Arsenal and other European clubs exploiting young African players. We can have that another time. Here, Wenger deserves credit for his optimism and confidence in Africa.)

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Guns, Oil and Football

David Patrick Lane — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:41:21 +0000

The intersection of oil and football has moved from a field in Fallujah to a Cabinda-Congo border crossing, where earlier today separatist rebels ambushed the Togolese team bus.

Terrified Togolese footballers told of how they dived to the deck of the bus as they were “machine-gunned like dogs”. The Angolan bus driver was killed and four others on the bus were wounded including the reserve goalkeeper, Kodjovi Obilale (pictured in the Togo team photo above), and young midfield prospect, Serge Gakpé.

Les Eperviers are in state of shock and soundings taken from the players suggest they are unlikely to fulfill their fixtures. Togo are scheduled to open their tournament against Ghana in Cabinda on Monday.

You can expect a flurry of charges of corruption and references to atrocities dating all the way back to Berlin conference of 1884 (which set the borders for present day Angola, a year after Portuguese occupation of Cabinda).

No doubt the oil emirs and oligarchs who control the heights of English football will feel empowered to pipe up and demand the Africans return their human “property”. I fear there are probably no players of the calibre of Obdulia Varela around to respond. I wonder what the great Uruguayan captain would make of being told to return to the ranch to drive a Range Rover around the Stamford Bridge Ice Rink for the viewers at home? It will be interesting to see how Michael Essien and Didier Drogba respond tomorrow to the prospect of playing their 1st round fixtures in the Angolan enclave that is home to between 60% to 70% of Angola’s oil.

The tournament will go on with or without Togo, but an excuse may have to be found for Cabinda. It is now again as it once always was in Angola: “Confusão”. If only the great Kapuściński were still alive. He might be tweeting from his android in rebel territory.

Emanuel Abebayor when interviewed by Andy Hunter of The Guardian in the days before he departed for tournament was fearless, as ever, “Some people might be afraid, which is normal, I can understand that. But I’m going back to Africa, to one of the countries on my continent, and I’m prepared for Cabinda. I will enjoy myself. African nations are getting better and better. Angola had a big, big war but today everybody is getting along better. They have good organisation and we hope everyone will enjoy it and come back safely.”

Our thoughts are with the family of the Angolan bus driver.

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Adidas Puma Wars Slip into South Africa

David Patrick Lane — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:34:59 +0000

The Adidas Puma war slipped into South Africa early in the new year. Skirmishes were expected, though few would have predicted a Zulu Puma alliance. Here’s South African President Jacob Zuma showing he can kick it during his New Year wedding ceremony in the village of Nklandla. His Excellency’s hamstring came through a late fitness test, though his overall match fitness has never been in doubt.

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