As it has worked out on several occasions in my travels already, I have been well situated to watch some great soccer. Most recently, my arrival in Morocco coincided with the semifinal and final rounds of the 2008 Africa Cup, in which Egypt successfully defended their title as the most dominant soccer team on the continent (thats right, i said it and would love to hear if you disagree). The final, which was played between Egypt and (Samuel Eto'o and) the Cameroon national team, was a pretty uneventful and sloppy match in my opinion, Egypt's lone and winning goal the result of a fatal error committed by two Cameroon defenders.
However, more interesting than the game itself was that virtually all of Morocco (I can only speak specifically of Marrakech and Essouira, though I think it would be safe to extrapolate from there) was supporting Egypt. It was not the most surprising revelation, bit it was very interesting as it offered some perspective into the regional/cultural allegiance that exists in North Africa. When I suggested to a pair of fellow spectators that I was supporting Cameroon, they looked at me as if I was crazy. It was a moment in which I could have spoken Arabic because I could have learned a thing or two more directly from their viewpoint.
But the conclusion at which I arrived after the game was that while it was the Championship of the Africa Cup, perhaps more importantly, it was also a showdown between two very different (and conflicting?) African identities, which sybolically go much deeper than just a soccer match.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
3 comments:
So are we talking Black African v. Non-Black African, or a predominantly Muslim culture v. a predominantly Christian/non-Muslim culture? Or both.. or neither? Just wondering.
Funny you mention this man. I just got off the phone talking with my sister who watched the final this sunday with her Jordanian boyfriend and his friends on a satellite Arab news channel. Of course he and his friends were supporting Egypt, and although they're mostly Christian Jordanians, there still seems to be an Arab allegiance. I bet many other countries in the Middle East and North Africa were tuned in rooting for Egypt and the 'other' Zidan :)
I'm not sure what to make of this in how you framed the alliances and how culture/identity/nationality play into all this, and I think Brittany's point may hold some truth to some extent, but I also can't help to think something about team playing, modesty , and underdoggedness play into it. All of Egypt's players play in Egypt (many on the same three major teams) and there were not considered favorites for the cup, in contrast to Cameroon who was heavily favored and had Eto'o as the leading goalscorer. For me, it was amazing to see how strong team play defeated the other African powerhouses and superstars: Drogba and the Yaya brothers, Essien and Agogo, Eto'o and co. And all by homegrown players and trainers. Egypt was one of the few teams who didn't have a foreign coach, unlike many of the other African teams that have little team unity and foreign coaches for hired guns.
All that being said, I would rather have had Cameroon win. I love Eto'o. I think Cameroon plays way more explosively, creatively, and artistically. But maybe there is something about affinity for particular style that runs in those allegiances you found, Chas.
Here's an interesting article on all this: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/12/sports/SOCCER.php
There have been some pretty interesting articles revolving around this same issue by NYtimes authors and authors following the Nations Cup.
It seems as though almost all the local fans in Ghana kept their allegiances to the other West African (sub-Saharan/black African) teams. And the general sentiment was that the North Africans aren't, and don't really consider themselves African. If I wasn't such a lazy bastard, I would try and find some links.
But I can't hate on Egypt. (oh, btw, for some reason Comcast in DC has a Nigerian channel, which luckily showed all the games live) In my opinion they outplayed Cameroon...and they stomped on the Ivory Coast...which absolutely shocked me
but anyways...I'm looking forward to 2010...some of these teams could definitely make things very interesting for the traditional Euro/S.American powers
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