Something in the water
Africa's best football players come from West Africa. That's just facts.
SPORTS
Ingerland, Ingerland, Ingerland
Late last month the English goalkeeper David James wrote in The Observer that he was surprised at the accusations of racism against his national teammate John Terry. The latter was accused of racially abusing an opponent, QPR player Anton Ferdinand. James also claimed racism has been rooted out of the game a long time ago. […]
Demba Ba
Demba Ba has a habit of falling to his knees post-goal and praying.
Africa gets new football kits
Puma created new kits for African teams ahead of the 2012 African Cup of Nations. At first sight, it looks exciting. Up close, the designers stuck to conservative.
'Soccer movies about poor, brown people'
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKyxDm_lCFQ&w=600&h=369]
Mr Balotelli
The estranged son of Ghanaian immigrants reared in Brescia wreaks havoc in Manchester: “Why always me?” read the slogan on Mario Balotelli’s vest. Because, Mario, you’re clearly more than a little bit eccentric. But you do know how to score goals and, as long as that is the case, City will forgive him for whatever […]
First as tragedy, then as farce
South Africa prematurely celebrating qualification to the 2012 African Cup of Nations championship is another case of history repeating itself when it comes to the administration of football in the country.
Nike Chiefs
What if major sports brands like Nike let local football stars - playing who are not big in Europe, but big in national club leagues on the continent - front a campaign?
Moscow Hair
The Ivorian international and CSKA Moscow footballer, Seydou Doumbia about the hardest thing to secure in the Russian capital: It's hard to get a fade.
Didier Drogba, Truth Commissioner
Cote d'Ivoire's newly-appointed commission counts 11 members, with footballer Didier Drogba one of them, representing the country's diaspora.
National Pride
Cote d'Ivoire is Africa's best team at the moment. FIFA says so. Egypt, the current African champions, are second.
'Slavery, The Game'
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJMzeQicAh8&w=600&=369] While watching out for Fifa 12, I got distracted by this Youtube “commercial” for another video game, “Slavery: The Game.” Within days it had half a million views. Watch the trailer above. It just seemed to absurd to be true. There was a a website, with a video, ways for you to share it […]
Hugh Masekela’s Football Skills
There's no record that Hugh Masekela could play football. But he acted like he could kick a ball in a music video.
Magnificent
Earlier this week ESPN won seven Sports Emmy Awards, including one for music during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, like the video–played at the start of broadcasts and during breaks from the studio in South Africa–featuring U2 (I prefer Bono when he sings, not when he wants to save Africa) and the Soweto […]
The Whites-Only French
France today is struggling with race because — unlike its former colonies — it never actually went through its own process of decolonization.
No Comment
There’s a labor dispute between the NFL, which runs American football, and players (the fight is really about about greedy owners trying to make lots more money at the players’ expense). This means players have time on their hands. Chad Ochochinco (friend of Kaka and Ronaldo) briefly tried his hand at a career in professional […]
The Beautiful Game
Correction: You don’t have to be a football fanatic, be a supporter of the English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur or–for some of this blog’s readers–care whether the club has African players on its books–they have*–but you will enjoy this piece of animation of English player Gareth Bale’s goals earlier in the club’s Champions League […]
'Africa's First World Cup' Revisited
We’re allowed to talk about the 2010 World Cup until 2014. Later today our man, historian of African soccer, Peter Alegi, will deliver the keynote address at the 7th Sports in Africa Symposium at Ohio University. Since few of us are in Athens, don’t panic: The whole thing–including Peter’s keynote–will be webcasted live here. Here’s […]