Some coupe decale to warm you up for the African Cup of Nations final later today between Cote d’Ivoire (the favorites) and Zambia (the team everybody is rooting for). Here, here and here are some links to previews and bold predictions on the outcome of the match. Also read our earlier post on the improbable march of Zambia to the final.
Surfing as leisure and a sport has historically been associated with whites in South Africa, though that’s not necessarily true in practice. In fact a few documentary films (for example, “Taking back the waves“), the new feature film “Otelo Burning” and the work of photographer Richard Johnson (scroll to the right) have pointed to a long tradition of surfing among young black people in South Africa’s coastal cities.* So, I always wondered when some creative director would pounce on the idea to commodify that history and struggle for recognition. Well, Cell C, a mobile/cell operator has done so now as part of its “Be Now” campaign targeted at young people with an ad focusing on”budding” semi-pro surfer Avuyile Ndamase from the Eastern Cape province.
* The recent documentary, “Whitewash,” interrogated similar themes in surfing in the United States.
Everyone wanted to see Cote d’Ivoire play Ghana in the African Cup of Nations final on Sunday. A heavyweight clash between the two West African giants, it held the promise of a meeting of “golden” generations. The Ivorian veterans against the Ghanaian whipper-snappers, Drogba versus Ayew, Yaya Toure against Agyemang-Badu. Everyone wanted to see it. Everyone, that is, except those who have been following the progress of a Zambian side that has lit up the tournament at every stage. They might only have one player at a top European league (winning-goal specialist Emmanuel Mayuka ), but the Chipolopolo have played the best football, scored (some of) the best goals, and produced by miles the best goal celebrations at CAN 2012. Their success hasn’t been lucky or accidental. They haven’t had an easy route to the final. They have simply been brilliant.
By Karim Azeb, Guest Blogger*
It was 76 minutes and 41 seconds into the 2008 African Cup of Nations final match between Egypt and Cameroon when Mohamed Zidane beats defender Rigobert Song to the ball and squares across the goal to Mohamed Aboutrika who calmly maneuvers the ball beneath Cameroon’s diving keeper to score the match-winning goal. This goal cemented Aboutrika’s place as the ‘superman’ of Egypt’s footballing history, was followed by his trademark celebration: dropping to his knees and touching his forehead to the ground in symbolic prayer. Aboutrika’s exploits are also admired outside Egypt. In 2008, BBC readers named him African Footballer of the Year, and CAF named him (or shafted him as, depending on your point of view) to the 2nd best African player in their African Footballer of the Year selection (the same year Egypt and Al Ahly took National Team and Club of the Year, respectively). But Aboutrika is also a hero off the field.
It was with some intrigue that my J.M. Coetzee google alert recently informed me that the elusive author had published something new; this time, apparently, in a contribution to a book celebrating, of all things, Australian cricket.
I am trying to avoid the media blitz on the Superbowl and anybody keen to enthuse about all the “amazing” commercials. But sometimes I can’t look away. One trope gets me every time. It involves The New York Times and Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka. Last week The Times did a profile of Kiwanuka. It recounts his tragic family history back in African: he’s the grandson of Uganda’s first prime-minister, Benedicto Kiwanuka, who was murdered by Idi Amin. Here’s what interesting: Basically the same story was published about Kiwanuka last week, in the Times in 2007 and before that in 2006. Like that’s the only story to tell about Kiwanuka.
Written by Elliot Ross
The knockout phase of the Cup of Nations started this weekend and by next Sunday we’ll have a new champion. Events in Port Said, along with the Zimbabwean match-fixing scandal have made it a dreadful week for African football–but there has not been any question of postponing the remaining fixtures. The quarter-final line-up is without the tournament’s biggest losers, Senegal. Morocco and Angola also miss out. Earlier today red-hot Zambia played Sudan (in the end, Sudan came up short) and hosts Equatorial Guinea take on favorites Côte d’Ivoire now. Then tomorrow Gabon will play Mali before Ghana face Tunisia, in what should be the tie of the round. The two major surprise quarter-finalists are Equatorial Guinea and Sudan, but they have very different back-stories.
Since its founding in 1907, Al Ahly S.C. has been known as ‘the people’s club,’ representing resistance against the many forms of colonialism that have long plagued the African continent. Initially the first sporting club to allow Egyptians to join, Al Ahly remains the most popular of Egyptian teams, wearing to this day the red kits that honour the pre-colonial Egyptian flag. It is no great surprise, then, that Al Ahly Ultras – officially founded by Mahmoud Ghandour in 2007 (who is reported to have died in Wednesday’s violent attacks) – were on the front lines of both the initial “#Jan25” uprising and the continuing movement intended to topple the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF). Egyptians inspired by Tunisia and over 30 years of corrupt governance have utilized every resistance tactic at their disposal, including the well-organized and nearly fearless ultras.
During the summer I was interviewed for a new film about how a group of American fans experienced the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, including the qualifying leading up to it. I think I made the cut. The trailer for the film, “Laduma” is now on Youtube and it is hitting the festival circuit (it’s showing tomorrow night in Philadelphia, at a film festival in Pennsylvania next month and I know there’s a New York City screening also lined up in the near future). You can see my man Tony Karon, who co-teaches a regular ‘Global Soccer, Global Politics’ course (Fall 2011 syllabus here) with me at The New School, in the trailer above. Other talking heads interviewed in the film include ESPN’s Bob Ley and Sports Illustrated’s soccer writer Grant Wahl. Here’s the Facebook page for updates.
