Mozambique versus Spain
African fans retain a surprising affection for old colonizers when it comes to international tournaments. Mozambique is no exception.
SPORTS
An ode to Benni McCarthy
Watching a 34 year old Benni McCarthy back in South Africa with Orlando Pirates, leave many observers with a lingering feeling that he could have achieved so much more.
The loneliness of the Kenyan long distance runner
How the death of a very talented Kenyan marathon runner points to structural problems in the country's national running industry.
The Aura of Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba is the master of the unruly and the absurd: when he is in form, none of what the other team does matters.
Fabrice Muamba and English football
It's a shame that a player had to suffer from a heart attack to provoke feelings of belonging about him as a refugee and immigrant. It says something about Britain.
Football: The 11 Commandments of Rigobert Song
When the good Lord handed down the Decalogue to Moses atop Mount Sinai, he limited himself to just the ten commandments. The new boss of Cameroon’s national football team, Rigobert Song, is obviously more demanding.
The Lagos preacher and the football final
When it comes to football punditry, hindsight is the easy way out. So while your very own and brave AIAC published a top 10 list of African footballers who could emerge this year way back in early January, pundits, like the BBC’s Piers Edwards, waited until after the AFCON to make the same prediction. But our early or Edwards’ […]
Germany has a version of GQ magazine
A woman in Germany removes her clothes and poses for a magazine photographer with her famous boyfriend. Her boyfriend’s father happens to be Tunisian and the pictures are reprinted in Tunisia. Three journalists are arrested in Tunis and charged with “violating public morals by publishing a nude photograph.” It would be fair to say that in […]
Everybody wants in on the final
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 […]
Surfer dude
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 […]
The Copper Bullets
Zambia is on course to be Southern African nation since Bafana Bafana in 1996 to win the African Cup of Nations.
In Praise of Mohamed Aboutrika
Aboutrika is the ‘superman’ of Egypt’s football, probably the best African to never play professionally in Europe and a political leader.
If commercials were a competition
A sample of some of the TV commercials made specifically for the 2012 African Cup of Nations football tournament.
JM Coetzee’s Cricketing Life
The news that J.M. Coetzee had contributed to a book entitled "Australia: Story of a Cricket Country" rankled the author, a committed Coetzeephile, slightly.
Super Bowl Predictions
The only way to sustain interest in the lives of African and African American NFL players is to either talk about their personal tragedy or show how moved they are by the plight of other black people.
Football Underdogs and Politricks
The fortunes of Sudan and Equatorial Guinea at AFCON 2012. The latter especially, a squad cobbled together by naturalizing players from Brazil and Spain.
Vincent Kompany is from the DRC
What countries do footballers playing in Europe's top five leagues come from? That's not such a straightforward question and answer.
The African Cup of Nations preview
The 28th edition of the African Cup of Nations kicks off in Gabon and Equitorial Guinea tomorrow. 16 teams–including the joint hosts who did not have to qualify–will play for 2 places in the final match scheduled on February 12. The big question is, of course, who will take the trophy.
The French advantage
The largest delegation of foreign coaches at Afcon is French and 8 squads draw more players from the French leagues, than elsewhere.
Remember Caster Semenya
The story of Caster Semenya was always a story of a Black African woman, and was equally always the story of a Black woman.