"It matters a great deal who is going to win, but not at all who won"
Africa United
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Steve Bloomfield, Canongate, Edinburgh, etc, 2010
A fascinating book on “How football explains Africa”
It is “about how football can rebuild a country, end a war or provide a beacon of light in a time of despair. It’s the story of how Africa has been shaped by its football and how Africa is now shaping football.” Page 17
The thesis is that “football in Africa often reflects the political and cultural struggles that a country is experiencing” (Page 9) is developed through 10 chapters each on a different country.
Chapter 1 The Pharoahs – covers the rivalry between clubs Al-Ahly and Zamalek and Egypt’s epic battle for qualification for South Africa 2010.
Chapter 2 – is on the rivalry between Sudan and Chad.
Chapter 3 – on the problems of trying to run a league and a national team in war-torn Somalia.
Chapter 4 on Kenya – corruption in football worse than in politics
Chapter 5 on Rwanda and Congo - genocide and football
Chapter Six on Nigeria. Blatant match fixing and rampant endemic age-cheating –25 year olds in U17 but many have no birth certificate.
Chapter 7 on Ivory Coast Football as unifying factor in country
Chapter 8 on Sierra Leone and Liberia and the importance of amputee football in a region’s dignity
Chapter 9 on Zimbabwe
Chapter 10 on South Africa’s failure to build on the success of 1998 and the consequences now.
‘Financially, this is the seventh-best league in the world, but on the field we’re seventy-second in the world. We’re not even in the top ten in Africa. That tells us something. Had we not been hosts we would not have qualified. It could be really embarrassing.’ Robert Marawa Page 286
Nitpick – Drogba is referred to as captain of Ivory Coast in 2005-6. Cyrille Domoraud was captain until after the 2006 World Cup.
Well worth reading