Jun
18
2010
Unlikely to be making any travel plans to the US any time soon
Ah, the internet… What’s not to love? The USA-Slovenia match ended less than half an hour ago. Koman Coulibaly, the Malian referee, didn’t have the greatest of games culminating in his decision to disallow a perfectly good winning goal for the Americans. Here’s a selection of the new entries made to Coulibaly’s Wikipedia page:
“If I had my druthers I would love to see this guy hung.”
“I don’t think it’s any coincidence his skin is the same color as evil.”
“Malicious Koman denying white man the goal”
“I think the US should house him in Guantanamo.”
“why is noone talking about how this guy is black…seems obvious to me.”
Wikipedia has wisely noted that the “neutrality of this article is disputed” and has restored its original blandness.
Jun
18
2010
So much for this being an African World Cup.
Few Africans from outside the host country have been able to make the trip south, while the South Africans who make their trade from football – the informal hawkers and trinket sellers – have been banned from within half a mile of the stadiums.
The official World Cup song is performed by a Colombian and to top it all the temperature has routinely dropped below freezing. The hawkers outside the exclusion zone are selling out of ear-muffs.
All of that might have been forgotten if the six African teams had performed on the pitch, but so far this is shaping up to be the worst World Cup for Africa since Cameroon’s Roger Milla-inspired breakthrough in 1990. In the first eight matches played by African teams they have managed just one win between them and scored three goals.
Cameroon, Nigeria and Algeria – England’s opponent this evening – all lost their opening matches and did little to suggest they have what it takes to reach the second round. Ivory Coast and South Africa managed creditable draws against stronger opponents, while Ghana registered the sole victory, beating Serbia 1-0.
South Africa’s 3-0 defeat to Uruguay has all but knocked the hosts out, meaning a continent’s hopes rest on the shoulders of Ivory Coast, who still have to play Brazil, and a young Ghana side that while looking lively against Serbia have yet to be tested against a top team.
No African side has gone further than the quarter-finals, a stage which Cameroon reached in 1990 and Senegal achieved in 2002. It was hoped that Africa’s first World Cup might be the stage for Africa’s first semi-finalist but, once again, it looks unlikely.
From my latest post for Channel 4 News. You can read the rest here
Tags: africa, algeria, Cameroon, ghana, ivory coast, Nigeria, south africa, world cup | 
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16
2010
Until this week I had never heard of Bavaria beer. Apparently it’s Dutch. No idea what it taste like. Whether it’s a bitter or lager, sweet or sour.
I had heard of Kulula, although I haven’t ever flown with them, but that’s only because I’ve taken a few domestic flights in South Africa over the past few years. They all have slightly ridiculous names (Seriously, who in their right mind takes an airline called 1time? I don’t care if it’s a South African phrase. To everyone else it suggests you wouldn’t want to use it twice.)
But Kulula, along with Bavaria, are now two of my favourite companies. Both have angered Fifa which has rather pompously accused them of “ambush marketing”.
Kulula tried to get round Fifa’s ridiciulous rules, which ban pretty much everyone from even mentioning the words “2010 World Cup” unless they are an official sponsor, by publishing an advert claiming it was the “unofficial airline of you-know-what”. Fifa wasn’t happy and went to court to ban the ad. Kulula, as David Goldblatt pointed out on his excellent World Cup blog for Prospect, have now upped their campaign, inviting Sepp Blatter to fly for free for “the duration of the thing that’s happening right now”. All he has to do is send a polite little email to iamseppblatter@kulula.com
Bavaria’s crime was to send 36 women in bright orange mini-dresses to Monday’s Netherlands v Denmark match at Soccer city. The women’s dresses didn’t have any logos but apparently Fifa’s fashion experts/marketing officials thought television viewers in the Netherlands would recognise the dresses as a Bavaria promotion. No, I don’t get it either.
Of course, neither the Kulula ads or the Bavaria stunt would have got any attention if it hadn’t been for Fifa’s bizarre over-reaction. So either there are people within Fifa who secretly hate the way they have sold the soul of football and are willing to undermine all the corporate sponsors one by one… or Fifa’s marketing department is a bit clueless.
Jun
13
2010
Is the vuvuzela about to be banned? One can only hope so. The ubiquitous plastic horns have been the soundtrack to this World Cup, drowning out every other attempt at singing, chanting and music.
(Photo: Hussein Malla/AP)
Nigeria has a fantastic brass band. The only reason I know they were at Ellis Park on Saturday was because I saw them with my own eyes. Couldn’t hear them, though. The English have a brass band too. While their insistence on endlessly playing the Great Escape and our terrible national anthem doesn’t normally win them too many friends, it would have been nice to occasionally be able to hear them in Rustenburg.
The World Cup should be a celebration of difference. A time when we get a glimpse of countries and cultures we know little about. And if Bafana fans stop blowing their vuvuzelas perhaps they’ll be able to give us a few renditions of the incredibly moving ‘Shosholoza’ instead.
Jun
11
2010
(Photo: Martin Meissner, AP)
With one lash of his left foot, Siphiwe Tshabala set this World Cup alight. His 55th minute strike, which gave South Africa the lead against Mexico, was all the more surprising because the hosts had done little until then to excite the vuvuzela-blowing 85,000-strong crowd.
It may have ended in a draw but South Africa will be happy with their performance – as will the organisers. All tournaments are improved by the continued presence of the host nation until the latter stages and while a quarter-final place should be beyond Bafana Bafana’s capabilities, they showed enough spark and verve after Tshabalala’s strike to suggest they could cause problems for France and Uruguay, their next two opponents.
It could have been even better for South Africa had Katlego Mphela, with one minute to go, hit the back of the net rather than the outside of the post after racing onto a ball lofted over the top and outpacing two defenders.
Most fans will be happy with a point though. South Africa may be ranked 83rd in the world – officially the worst position of any World Cup host – but they proved today they deserve their place at football’s top table.
There is a spirit to this Bafana side. They literally danced onto the pitch for their pre-match warm-up and Steven Pienaar dropped to his knees before the match to lead the team in prayer.
It is a spirit that reflects the mood of the country. The vuvuzelas – which I’m afraid you’re just going to have to put up with – are being blown by young and old, white and black, with similar gusto. It is easy to dismiss the talk of how football can unite a country or change the way we view a continent, but there is a truth behind it.
Danny Jordaan, the tournament organiser, reflected yesterday on the two seminal moments in South Africa’s recent history: the release of Nelson Mandela in February 1990 and his subsequent election April 1994. This World Cup, Jordaan argued, was just as important. “It must show the world who we are,” he said. Judging by today’s show at Soccer City, from the enthusiastic opening ceremony to the euphoria of the capacity crowd, the world is likely to be impressed.
Jun
10
2010
Well, here for a start. I’ll be updating Africa United daily (that’s the hope, anyway) but I will also be blogging for a range of publications, including…
and ONE, the campaigning and advocacy organisation
If all goes to plan I’ll also be appearing on the occasional radio and TV programme, talking about what the World Cup means for Africa and shamelessly plugging Africa United (which you can buy here or here)
So, for the next few weeks – or until all the African teams are out – this will be my desk:
It’s deep in the heart of a vast white tent filled with endless rows of journalists typing away:
Hopefully, I’ll manage to get out and about a bit – and wangle a ticket for the occasional match. Only 24 hours to go…
Jun
10
2010
"Which way is the plane home?"
Cross-posted over at the Telegraph
Has any team ever had a World Cup preparation as chaotic as Nigeria? The Super Eagles, who are drawn in Group B against Argentina, Greece and South Korea, have stumbled from one disaster after another since qualifying by the skin of their teeth last November.
It began with the badly-timed sacking of coach Shaibu Amodu, who had led the team during the long qualification campaign before taking the Super Eagles to the semi-finals of January’s Africa Cup of Nations. The Nigerian Football Federation had warned Amodu he would be sacked unless the Super Eagles reached the semis, but shortly after the tournament decided to get rid of him anyway.
For Amodu there was a strong sense of déjà vu. In his first stint as national coach Amodu had successfully led his side through the 2002 World Cup qualification campaign and reached the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations before being sacked before the World Cup started.
After a long and very public search, the NFF finally named Swede Lars Lagerback as Amodu’s replacement. Lagerback, who took up his post at the end of February, would not have long with his players before the World Cup so the NFF announced a long training camp in London with four international friendlies in the run-up to the tournament.
But things quickly fell apart. The match with North Korea was cancelled, as was the friendly against Ukraine. Another match with Paraguay, planned for 15 May, also fell by the wayside, as did another match against Iceland (who had supposedly stepped in to replace Ukraine).
They managed to arrange a friendly with Saudi Arabia in Tirol, Austria (which ended 0-0), but preparations for their final friendly before heading to South Africa, a match in London against Colombia, descended into farce. It was due to be held at Upton Park, but four days before kick-off the Nigerian Football Federation announced that west ham had pulled out. It was alright though, because Luton Town would step in. Alas, within 48 hours Kenilworth Road was no longer available. MK Dons agreed to host the match at the last minute, but it would have to be behind closed doors. (Nigeria played a bit better, holding the south Americans to a one-all draw.)
The London camp hadn’t been a great success, but at least the team had ended with a decent performance and could look forward to the flight down to South Africa. Well, almost. The plane which the NFF had chartered to take them to South Africa had a fault, meaning the squad had to stay another 24 hours in London while NFF officials scrambled to find a replacement.
Within a couple of days of arriving in South Africa there were more problems. John Mikel Obi, arguably the team’s best player, was ruled out through injury. The team was already missing Ike Uche, the top scorer during their lacklustre qualifying campaign, who didn’t make the squad after failing to recover from a knee injury.
And when it looked like things couldn’t get any worse, Nigeria’s final warm-up match was marred by a crush at the stadium which injured at least 16 fans. Fifa were quick to point out they had nothing to do with the organisation of the friendly, suggesting that it had been the responsibility of the NFF.
Nigeria should be one of Africa’s footballing powerhouses, but this is a decent side, nothing more. There are no creative midfielders in the vein of Jayjay Okocha, while Nwankwo Kanu is these days more of a mascot than a captain.
Upfront they will rely on the Lokomotiv Moscow forward Peter Odemwingie, while Vincent Enyeama, one of Africa’s best goalkeepers, is likely to be kept busy at the back. On paper Nigeria’s group is relatively kind. Argentina should sweep all before them but there are far tougher European sides than Greece, while South Korea shouldn’t worry Nigeria too much.
But after such a chaotic last month, even the most lacklustre opponents must fancy their chances against Nigeria.
The Super Eagles are likely to be on the first plane home. If, that is, they can find one that works.
