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A SPECIAL ACN EDITION

Like The Daily Show without writers, this is a different kind of barometer. Remember this amazing piece by Austin Merrill, former Associated Press writer in the Ivory Coast? Well, he’s back (in Africa), working on another story, and while soccer is not his focus, there just so happens to be a little tournament going on at the same time. I like to call it the Africa Cup of Nations. Austin was kind enough to take a break from reporting on subjects that really matter and write exclusively for TIAS a little slice of soccer life in Ghana. South Africa buying supporters? Check it out, after the jump.

Filed Sunday, January 27th, 2008, by Austin Merrill from Ghana:

It’s been a week since I arrived in Ghana, and in those seven days I’ve watched 13 games of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, five of them in person. Tonight I went to the brand new stadium in Tamale, a 12-hour drive north from the capital, Accra, to see Angola beat Senegal and Tunisia down South Africa, each game ending 3-1.

As the tournament enters its second week, three favorites — Ghana, Egypt, and Ivory Coast — share 2-0 records, and everyone else is trying to catch up. Cameroon is back in the mix, rebounding from a first-game defeat to thrash Zambia 5-1 in game two. But one of the great mysteries of the Cup so far is the underwhelming performance of the powerful Nigeria squad, which has a tie and a loss and has yet to score a goal. And while Ghana sits atop its group, the team frustrated locals when it managed only a 1-0 win against a weak Namibia side. If this keeps up, the Black Stars won’t go far once the knock-out stage begins.

But you could have figured all that out by reading the news. The real story here is how the tournament is affecting daily life in villages and on city streets — the hectic, joyous, bursting-with-pride scenes of Ghanaians relishing their moment in the spotlight.

When I landed in Accra on Monday, the 22nd, the country was waking up hoarse and with a bit of a hangover. The tournament had kicked off the night before with Ghana beating Guinea 2-1, thanks to a dramatic last-minute goal. Thousands of flags fluttered in the warm morning air as I rode into town from the airport — the red, yellow, and green banners with a centered black star hung from street lamps, car windshields, and moped handlebars. Street vendors hawked them at stoplights. Pedestrians wrapped themselves in them like cloaks as they walked to work.

As I’ve driven the length of the country in the days since, the flag-waving has only gotten more enthusiastic. Even on nights when Ghana is not playing, huge sections of stadiums shake with Ghana fans, who spend the entire 90 minutes singing, dancing, and blowing loud plastic horns. The Africa Cup of Nations is the biggest party on the planet, and Ghana can’t get enough.

There’s been some controversy, both major and mild. The Mali-Benin game, on the tournament’s second night, was delayed several minutes by a stadium blackout, and local papers slammed the local organizing committee, calling the incident a national disgrace. A few days later the Benin coach claimed he was approached by someone seeking to rig his team’s next game. And here in Tamale, a group of South Africans gave out hundreds of Bafana Bafana t-shirts to people in town, offering to pay their way into the game if they wore the shirts in support of the South African side. Sure enough, there was a huge flag-waving Bafana Bafana cheering section. One young man told me that he’d even pull for South Africa if the team faced his beloved Ghana, thanks to his free t-shirt and ticket. He also said he wanted to show support for the country that would be hosting the 2010 World Cup, the first time the continent will host an event of such magnitude.

But South Africa has some work to do if it hopes to field a competitive squad when it hosts the World Cup. Tonight the team looked ragged and amateurish in its loss to Tunisia. There’s virtually no chance that Bafana Bafana will advance to the next stage; nonetheless, it’s guaranteed a loud cheering section — last I heard, that group of South Africans was still at it, recruiting fans as fast as they could dole out those t-shirts.

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banner photo of Accra, Ghana.
bottom (above): A Bafana Bafana supporter