African Cup of Nations 2008 Quarterfinals Results

It is 7:30 PM and it is mayhem outside. The Ghanaian Black Stars have just defeated their arch rivals the Nigerian Super Eagles in the Quarter-Finals of the 2008 African Cup of Nations. The Nigerian side were considered favorites coming into the 2008 CAN; they have the highest FIFA world ranking (19) of any of the current African teams. Yet they struggled in the preliminary rounds against the powerful Ivory Coast team, and came out of their bracket in second place. The Nigerian team, whom many commentators felt had not played to their potential in the early rounds, came out of the gates swinging against their long time rivals, the Black Stars. In recent history the Nigerian team has had a way of frustrating and defeating the Ghanaians, and it was almost as if meeting these historic rivals awoke the hunger within the Nigerian side.

One section of the stadium was packed with Nigerian fans; their characteristic white and Kelly green standing out starkly from the sea of Ghanaian red, gold, and green. This section erupted into madness when their team scored the first goal off a penalty kick just after the first half hour of play. Going up on the Black Stars 1 to 0 gave the Nigerian side an increased boost of confidence. Whereas the Ghanaian team had enjoyed a 60-40 share of ball possession for the first thirty minutes, after that penalty goal and for the rest of the first half the Nigerians evened the time of possession.

At the risk of sounding fickle, I have to admit that I was a bit afraid. The Nigerians began the game fiercely, and only picked up their efforts. From my seat as an amateur sporting commentator, it seems to me that the Ghanaian team tends to start matches sitting back a bit. Optimistically I’d be tempted to say they are taking it easy and trying to observe, get a read on the other team. But the juxtaposition of the two is anxiety provoking for the fan: the Ghanaian team seemingly sitting back while the Nigerians charged ferociously (and with no shortage of penalties and a few yellows).

The Ghanaians picked it up in response to the Nigerian penalty goal, but as the final minutes of the first half ticked down, it appeared we would head for the locker rooms down by one. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Essien “the darling boy” put a header just insie the left goal post, with enough spin on the ball to rickochet it into the net. Ghanaian fans in the pub where we were watching lept up. A caucaphony of horns, whistles, shouts, chants and screams filled the too-small space of the pub. People were caught in between jumping and dancing in a movement that reminds us that adults are sometimes still only bigger kids.

During half time we have to leave the pub to send our visiting friends off to the airport. After packing them safely away in a taxi, we go to a small local Caribbean Jerk Chicken restaurant, where the interior of the restaurant is packed to capacity with Ghanaians. As we enter, we wave to Francis, who lives on our compound and always hangs out there. The second half is as stressful and exciting as the first. The Ghanaians are storming the Nigerian goal, take more shots, but the shots either go wide or are defended by the goalie. At one point we have a series of three consecutive corner kicks against their goal but we fail to capitalize on any of them. The fans are getting antsy as the time of the second half ticks down. With the game still tied, we are looking at overtime.

Then, just like the first half, just as the fans are resigned to the score, Junior Agogo puts one into the back of the net on a brilliant cross from left field. Junior Agogo is my favorite of the Black Star players, although he is not a fancy big-ticket premiere league player like Michael Essien or our injured captain Appiah. But he is a work horse who has consistently gotten it done for the Black Stars when they really needed it, seeming never to tire. He played the game even though he has been complaining of illness all week. Although he wasn’t playing at his usual full capacity, he was still a force to be reckoned with on the pitch. After the shot went in he stripped his jersey off and streaked around to the Black Stars bench, where several team mates jumped off the bench to pat and congratulate him. They all seem to have a characteristic post-goal move, some shimmy or shake. In the midst of the jumping pile of Black Stars, Agogo, smiling broadly, was pointing both hands forward and doing something that looked like a new take on “walk like an Egyptian.”

And then followed what felt like the longest minutes of my life. We played down the time to the official game end, and then there were three minutes of stoppage time. (For those unaccustomed to soccer: the clock runs continuously throughout the game, and then the referee adds “stoppage” time at the end to make up for the time lost along the way). These three minutes passed in an excruciating onslaught from the Nigerians. Several times the ball was like a foosball being batted back and forth within feet of the goal. Everyone in our room was leaning forward, drawn to the gravity of the television as the seconds ticked down and the ball continued to bang furiously within the inner goal box. Finally, Junior Agogo got a foot on it and booted the ball well out of scoring range. The clock wound down and the referee blew the whistle.

We were borne out on the wave of enthusiastic fans who rushed out of the tiny restaurant where we were viewing the match and raced the streets trying to burn off excess energy and excitement. Terry and I walked home and sat in front of our gate, watching the cars full of fans race by, flags waving, horns blaring, faces hung out the window shouting. As each roared by in celebration we, on the sidelines of this parade, enthusiastically roared back in response. Even Dinah, one of the women in our compound, was sitting out front, waving her Ghana flag as the cars zoomed by. From time to time she would cluck her tongue, “These Ghana people, we like celebration too much!” But then she would crack into a smile and chuckle a little.

Thinking of everything that has gone on in Kenya recently, and a hundred other ethno-political acts of violence on the continent, I couldn’t help but find myself pleasantly amazed that at least when Ghanaians offer stereotypes, they offer national stereotypes. And there are worse things in the world than being a little too eager to celebrate. The newspapers the next day would all feature the game on the front page, with some variation on the headline “Black Stars Victorious” or “The [Nigerian] Super Eagles Don’t Soar!” but not a word of any violence or fighting among the fans of these two rival teams.