African Cup of Nations
African Cup of Nations Review
Soccerphile's Ross Clegg found a working PC to email in this review of the action at the African Cup of Nations in Ghana.
So far the tournament has produced some good games and some great goals. The stadiums are just pure noise with fans all just making their own sounds in little groups. So whilst there is an atmosphere inside the stadiums, it is definitely not your European one.
These groups of fans are partly made up of companies who have transported workers in and they all sit together with the same t-shirts on and sing together. I heard the longest ever version of "Michael Rode The Boat Ashore" at the opening match.
Travelling between games you take your life in your hands as you can count sometime on more than one hand the number of vehicles, normally container lorries, lying abandoned by the side of the road.
The venues are not too far apart but the state of the roads means that it is something of a chore travelling from place to place. My longest journey to date is 12 and a half hours from Tamale to Accra overnight by minibus, through bandit country!
Ghanaians have been very friendly especially handing in passports that foreigners lose.
Still trying to buy tickets officially but I have not managed it yet. The police are arresting locals who have sold tickets for 2 pounds more than face value. Ghana Commercial Bank which is meant to sell the tickets, keep telling me to come back tomorrow, which is a common Ghanaian phrase which also translates as try again later.
Afcon
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