A powerful 8-goal opening statement
Jan 11, 2010
IN the aftermath of Togo’s unsavoury adventures in Cabinda, the 2010 Nations Cup desperately needed an anti-dote of favourable PR. The tournament opener between Angola and Mali provided just that –– with interest.<br>
By Joseph Opio
Angola 4 Mali 4
IN the aftermath of Togo’s unsavoury adventures in Cabinda, the 2010 Nations Cup desperately needed an anti-dote of favourable PR. The tournament opener between Angola and Mali provided just that –– with interest.
Eight goals, three headers, two penalties plus images of thunderstruck home fans … as far as splendid adverts for African football go, this match was a marketer’s dream.
Bar Angolans, the sensational 4-4 draw left everyone smiling: Malians, neutrals and even the soccer gods. Still though, the widest grin must have been worn by CAF.
CAF relieved
Having been ambushed by the terrorist attack in Cabinda, CAF suits spent the run-in to the opening game devising ways to refocus the spotlight onto the pitch –– where it should be. They needn’t have bothered. Leading Mali 4-0 with 11 minutes to go, Angola continued attacking with wanton abandon where a European side would have gone in defensive mode.
Shocking spectacle
It must have made a shocking spectacle to European viewers overfed on the staple diet of paranoid football and cagey tactics. But for neutrals and purists, it was a sight to behold.
“Modernist-wannabes†will lament the defensive naiveté prevalent in that 4-4 jamboree.
But that would be missing a fundamental point. Football is about self-expression. The primary goal, even above winning, is to score goals.
***
I was bemused by the insinuation by several Europeans that an incident in Cabinda had jeopardised the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
To paraphrase Danny Jordaan, chief of the World Cup Organising Committee, “the world can’t ask one country to take responsibility for what happens in another country. If there is a war in Kosovo and a World Cup in Germany, no one asks if the World Cup can go on in Germany, everyone understands the war in Kosovo is a war in Kosovo.â€
Angola 4 Mali 4
IN the aftermath of Togo’s unsavoury adventures in Cabinda, the 2010 Nations Cup desperately needed an anti-dote of favourable PR. The tournament opener between Angola and Mali provided just that –– with interest.
Eight goals, three headers, two penalties plus images of thunderstruck home fans … as far as splendid adverts for African football go, this match was a marketer’s dream.
Bar Angolans, the sensational 4-4 draw left everyone smiling: Malians, neutrals and even the soccer gods. Still though, the widest grin must have been worn by CAF.
CAF relieved
Having been ambushed by the terrorist attack in Cabinda, CAF suits spent the run-in to the opening game devising ways to refocus the spotlight onto the pitch –– where it should be. They needn’t have bothered. Leading Mali 4-0 with 11 minutes to go, Angola continued attacking with wanton abandon where a European side would have gone in defensive mode.
Shocking spectacle
It must have made a shocking spectacle to European viewers overfed on the staple diet of paranoid football and cagey tactics. But for neutrals and purists, it was a sight to behold.
“Modernist-wannabes†will lament the defensive naiveté prevalent in that 4-4 jamboree.
But that would be missing a fundamental point. Football is about self-expression. The primary goal, even above winning, is to score goals.
***
I was bemused by the insinuation by several Europeans that an incident in Cabinda had jeopardised the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
To paraphrase Danny Jordaan, chief of the World Cup Organising Committee, “the world can’t ask one country to take responsibility for what happens in another country. If there is a war in Kosovo and a World Cup in Germany, no one asks if the World Cup can go on in Germany, everyone understands the war in Kosovo is a war in Kosovo.â€