The period between 20 January and 10 February 2008 was, and still is, the best of my life. There is of course no prize for guessing what took place. It was the 26th African Cup of Nations, Ghana 2008. For those 20 days, Ghana was a carnival. The country was awash with the red, yellow and green colors of our national flag. For those days, any foreigner who came in to even the remotest of villages could have been excused for wondering what the nonsense about Africa being a sad, poor place was all about. There was little that was poor about Ghana for that period, and definitely nothing sad. All that mattered for those moments were the drums, the horns, the clappers and the whistles.
Working for CAL Bank on Independence Avenue at the time, I had the opportunity to see it all: from the clogged streets before Black Stars matches to the hysterical jubilations that followed their victories. I had never felt the nation so bonded as one before. For once, there were no tribes in Ghana. There were no political divisions. Everybody you met on the streets was a friend and you could hug them. Kiss them even. I watched all of the Stars matches at the Ohene Djan Stadium and I would give one arm to re-live that experience. Everything about it was enthralling fun. Even the clandestine schemes to get tickets for matches look like master lessons in Sun Tzu strategy in retrospect. The near one mile walk from 23 Independence Ave to the stadium was, for me, a ritualized procession to a holy ground. It made me feel like a member of a privileged few, chosen by a supreme being to embark on a pilgrimage.
Personally, Ghana 2008 came at an important point in my social life. One, I was settling into life as a young professional with more than a decent salary. Two, I had a new Peugeot 307 on loan from my "Sugar Mummy" Justina Laing (I love you!!!) to wheel around. Three, I had a crazy gang of friends who LOVE football. We had spent years chasing football around the world and finally the game had come home to us. Papa Amissah, Patrick Quantson, Nii Laryea Logozoo, Admoako Frimpong, and Clifford Clottey wouldn’t let this event pass without memory. And they sure didn’t. Put your hands up Messrs Guinness, Hennessy, Johnie Walker and Jack Daniels. You definitely played your roles to perfection. Finally, there was Stephanie Bamfo strutting by my side.
On the pitch, the football itself was magnificent. It was the tournament that produced the most goals in Nations Cup history and Ghana set the tone by beating Guinea with a stunning late goal from Sulley Muntari in the opening game. This was followed by defending champions Egypt producing a 4-2 win over Cameroon. Then came the upsets, as Angola recovered from a goal down to beat Senegal 3-1 and Guinea overcame Morocco 3-2.
The quarter-finals saw Ghana produce a memorable comeback to beat arch-rivals Nigeria 2-1, with 10 men. The Ivory Coast, tournament favorites, turned on the style in a 5-0 demolition of Guinea, only to come unstuck in the semi-final. Egypt walloped The Elephants 4-1 in one of the most breathtaking team displays I have ever seen. The Pharaohs then went on to beat Cameroun in the final to win the cup for a record breaking sixth time.
Samuel Eto'o scored five goals, making him the most prolific scorer in the tournament's history with 16, while Angola's Manucho burst onto the scene with four. Egypt's Essam Al Hadari produced world-class goalkeeping and his team mate Hosni Abd Rabou was easily the best player of the tournament.
I recount my CAN 2008 memories with a fondness of heart but I look forward to Angola 2010 in great anticipation. If it exceeds Ghana in any way, it will be the best footie tournament ever staged on African soil. At least, before the first ever 3D World Cup kicks off. In the meantime, share with me your best memories from Ghana 2008 and other Nations Cup events, as well as what you expect of Angola.
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Tom, impressive article. Really living EXCEEDING OURSELVES FOR 2010.
ReplyDeleteit reminds much of that sunday afternoon stripped in my ghana jersey and drove to the stadium as early as possiple in order to avoid the struggle of geting into the stadium but only to get there and find out that it was really inevitable but had to endure. And how all the ghanaian coaches around me laid down their strategies for a goal. But the wait was worthing it as that sulley muntari's came just in time and after 10mins of celebration i found out that i was wet with 'ice water'very typical of the Accra sports stadium but i was really worth it.
ReplyDeleteOh Jones, thanks for bringing up the Ghanaian "coaches" at the stadium. They will talk and talk and talk. Meanwhile they've not even played four corners before. But I guess it's all good. Maybe that's what keeps the actual coaches on their toes. You're luckier you only got wet from Ice Water. It could have been worse than that!
ReplyDeleteI still remember Alan Greene of the BBC declare during the Ghana-Nigeria match at the Ohene-Djan stadium that that it was the noisiest stadium he'd ever run commentary in.
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