BUT!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, September 10, 2007

Football here in Senegal, as well as many other African nations, is everything. Day and night, kids can be found in nearly all open spaces, whether it is a large field or small alley way, kicking around makeshift footballs. Adults are often found crowded around TVs or radios when international or professional matches are broadcast.


When Senegalese players make it professionally in Europe, the Senegalese people watch. More importantly, when the best of the best in Senegalese football come together and represent Senegal in international matches, life comes to a standstill for 80 minutes. These matches are few and far between, but when they do occur, especially on home turf, you know about it.

This past Saturday, Senegal played Burkina Faso at Stade Leopold Senghor in the last qualifying round leading up to the 2008 Coupe d’Afrique des Nations (CAN) in Accra, Ghana. For the past month and a half, I had this match on my calendar, with the intention of going. Other than a match or two in high school and college, I haven’t watched too many games in person.


Stopping by the stadium on Friday afternoon, I bought 11 tickets for myself and some friends. The tickets consisted of 1,000 FCFA ($2), 2,000 FCFA ($4), and 5,000 FCFA ($10). Not knowing too much about the stadium seating, I settled in buying the 2,000 FCFA tickets, and as we found out on Saturday, the seats were pretty good.

After going to UGA for 4 years, the only way I know how to get ready for a football game, whether it be American football or football/soccer, is to tailgate. For the few hours leading up to the game, some of the people I was going to the game with and I decided to tailgate a bit at the Peace Corps house. We grilled up some T-bone steaks to go with mashed potatoes, salad, and Jello. While I would have rather been tailgating for a Dawgs game, I couldn’t complain about this tailgate (not to ruin the outcome of this post, but Senegal managed to win on Saturday).

About an hour before the game, we headed to the stadium. The place was an absolute zoo. People were everywhere. Lines of people came out of every orifice of the stadium (some of these lines were over 100 yards long). We had no clue what to do or where to enter, so we just got in what we thought was the fastest moving line.

We managed to make the right choice and quickly entered the stadium grounds. Our tickets allowed us to sit in one of 4 sections in the stadium, so we found section 21 and entered. When sections fill up, doors to the section are locked and you can’t enter or exit, primarily to prevent any sort of violence. Also, large fences separate sections from each other.


The match had already begun. It was an awesome atmosphere. Bands were playing in a few different sections. The wave was being done. Vendors were selling soft drinks, bissap juice, and peanuts (unfortunately no stadium nachos or Outback chili cheese fries this weekend).

While the match was somewhat even in the beginning, Senegal started to dominate and never let up. They ended up winning the match 5 to 1 and securing a spot in the CAN 2008. I guess its off to Ghana…