The African teams are mostly set.  After last weekend’s final qualifiers, we know that Cameroon, Nigeria, and either Egypt or Algeria will join hosts South Africa, the Ivory Coast, and Ghana as Africa’s representatives at the first African World Cup.  But those qualifiers also served to decide the field for a more immediate event: the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Angola in January (shorthanded as CAN2010—for the Campeonato Africano das Nações em Futebol Angola 2010).  So the African qualifiers will first be travelling to Angola, where they will be joined by the hosts and the teams that finished second and third in the four team final qualifying groups: Gabon, Togo, Tunisia, Mozambique, Zambia, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Malawi.

Which all leads me to a random trivia question: What is the most expensive city in the world for foreigners?  Tokyo?  Copenhagen?  Geneva?  All good guesses, all in the top 10.  But, out of context, I bet few people would have guessed the number one spot goes to the city that this coming Friday (November 20^th) will host the draw for the CAN2010: Luanda, Angola.  Luanda is an archetypal global mega-city where massive wealth (due primarily to Angola’s huge reserves of oil and diamonds) combines with massive poverty (due primarily to the dual legacies of Portuguese colonialism and a brutal 27 year civil war between its 1975 independence and the 2002 death of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi) to create a place rife with both hope and hardship.  And now, during January’s African Cup of Nations, a place that makes an unlikely host for a major international soccer tournament.

I spent six months living in Angola during 2002-2003, working on my dissertation research through a volunteer posting with an international organization doing development-through-sports programs in refugee camps.  It was an intense and rich experience.  Living in Luanda and working outside the city in communities hosting refugees from Congo along with internally-displaced Angolans, I saw much of the diversity of Africa within a few square miles.  The region has a mix of quaint but crumbling Portuguese colonial villas, bullet strewn government blocks, private beach resorts, sprawling slums, modern high-rise bank headquarters, lush agricultural villages, modern suburban developments, old Cuban military bases, glistening corporate mansions in walled compounds, and hardscrabble squatter camps.  And then there were those ubiquitous African landmarks: hundreds of improvised soccer fields crammed into any available nook.

But now Angola is doing some improvising on a much bigger scale: through arrangements with China, Angola is building four brand new stadiums to host the Cup of Nations.  The designs for these stadiums were up on Pitch Invasion last month, and their aesthetics are well worth appreciating.  But the stories around the stadiums are also worth some consideration.  As the tournament approaches I hope I’ll have the chance to write some more personal stories about my soccer related experiences in Angola.  For starters, however, I’ll focus on the stadiums and the nation itself.

The Geo-Politics of Building Stadiums

As a country Angola is a prime example of the “paradox of plenty:” having massive quantities of natural resources too often makes places ripe for exploitation and destructive inequality.  Angola’s approximately 18 million people have a per capita GDP of around $6000 per year—which is relatively high for Africa, particularly in a country just emerging from a long civil war—but 70% of the population lives on less than $2 per day, the country has extremely high rates of infant mortality, low life expectancy, and is often rated among the most corrupt countries in the world.  In my experience, however, Angolans are also a proud and resilient people, and considering the challenges of overcoming the damning legacies of colonialism and war there is still some cause for hope.

One major reason for both hope and concern is the fact that among Angola’s wealth of natural resources is oil—what Venezuelan politician Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo called “the devil’s excrement.”  The short and massively over-simplified version of why Angola’s civil war went on for 27 long years is that one side had oil, the other side had diamonds, and the long-burn of the war allowed each to keep funding themselves.

The more contemporary geo-political implication of Angola’s oil is that it is one of several African countries embroiled in a quiet contest between the US and China in their quest to ensure energy for the future.  One by-product of the end of Angola’s civil war was the opportunity for the country and multi-national countries to more efficiently exploit the country’s oil—Angola became a member of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2007, and will host its first set of major OPEC meetings this December.  Several months ago when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was on her first major African tour, the New York Times declared “once again Angola is a crucial battleground.  This time, it is the contest for influence between the United States and an increasingly powerful, resource-hungry China.”

And what does all this have to do with soccer?  One of China’s most interesting tactics as it strives for global influence as an emerging superpower is what some have called “stadium diplomacy.”  China’s general scheme in the world of international development has been to worry a lot less about moralizing and telling developing countries what to do (which has been the general caricature of much Western aid), and to worry a lot more about making friends and creating business opportunities with no strings attached.  In Africa at least, building soccer stadiums are a great way to do that.

According to at least one source: “The Chinese have built or are in the process of building stadiums across a veritable A to Z of African states, including Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Djibouti, the Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.”  I can’t imagine the US Congress would be willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars for soccer stadiums in Africa, but China doesn’t seem to have that problem.

There is also a sort of natural political connection between Angola and China since the governments in both places have a historical tie to Marxism and a contemporary affinity for making lots of money.  The MPLA party has officially ruled Angola since independence, and much of the framing of the long civil revolved around cold war ideology.  One of the amazing stories of the Angolan civil war involves a turning point when heavily armored and anti-communist South African convoys made a long charge up the Atlantic coast to take Luanda—but the MPLA called on their comrade Fidel Castro who sent Cuban troops to help the Angolans repel the invaders.  But now, likely to Fidel’s great consternation, Luanda is home to gleaming new skyscrapers for capitalist behemoths such as ExxonMobil that sit, with great irony, just off Avenida Lenin and not far from Rua Comandante Che Guevara.

The Practice of Building Stadiums

The situation in Angola does raise interesting questions about when and how a developing country should spend money on sports.  This question seems particularly acute considering the way China tends to go about building the African stadiums—by using Chinese contractors and Chinese workers.  So where South Africa has tried to partially justify the massive expenditures it is making for World Cup stadiums by arguing that the money offers employment to local workers (of course, the South African worker’s strikes confirm this is not always a clean process either), Angola is just making sure the stadiums get built.  In one report from the BBC, for example, the construction site at Benguela (a provincial capital on Angola’s Atlantic coast) was reported to have 700 Chinese workers contrasted with only 250 locals.

Benguela, Complexo da Sr. da Graca

Overall, though there has been much concern and speculation as to whether having Angola host in 2010 was too ambitious—a familiar refrain for international tournaments in Africa considering naysayers targeting the just completed FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria and upcoming South Africa 2010—it does look like the Angolan stadiums will be ready.  True, the opening date for the main stadium in Luanda has been pushed back, having targeted a grand opening for next week against Ghana in a friendly that will now be played in the old Estádio da Cidadela.  And they may have to do without the exterior landscaping that helped make the early drawings look so pretty.  But Luanda really is the least of the concerns—though the new Luanda stadium would be the biggest, the old stadium is still serviceable.

The other stadiums, in contrast, are in provinces more directly affected by the long civil conflict and without Luanda’s access to resources.  The fact that the stadiums in Benguela, Lubango, and Cabinda seem well in order, though smaller than in Luanda, is certainly an accomplishment of some sort.  And even with the Luanda stadium, the few Angolan workers are confident—as one told the Reuters when asked if the stadium would be ready: “I’m sure it will, the Chinese are building this thing.”

The other thing the Angolans, or the Chinese, or whoever, should probably get some credit for are the details of the stadiums themselves.  I attended a few games at the old Estádio da Cidadela, and it is one of those classic cement monstrosities common to many African capitals.  It can handle lots of people, and does the basic job, but that’s all that can be said for it.

From concept on, the new Angolan stadiums seem to be something more.  The original designs were apparently made by an Angolan architect to be based on the Welwitschia plant, which grows only on the borders of Angola and Namibia.  And, at least for the Luanda stadium, Reuters notes: “The stadium rim is expected to bend like the horns of the black sable antelope — the country’s national symbol. The soccer team is known as the ‘Black Antelopes.’”  Others of the stadiums also have thoughtful touches—such as Benguela’s Complexo da Sr. da Graça which opens out to a view of the ocean.  The efforts to make the stadiums aesthetically pleasing and culturally meaningful is important in African contexts long assigned only austere basics.

It is also worth noting that despite the expense of living in Luanda, the estimated costs of the stadiums could be considered reasonable in comparison to the insane sums devoted to other modern complexes: a common estimate seems to be a total cost of around $600 million for the four Angolan stadiums.  While that is still a huge amount of money to spend on sports, the four combined are only slightly more than the single Green Point Stadium being built in Cape Town for the World Cup.  Granted, the Angolan stadiums are significantly smaller and not fully enclosed, and soccer spectators may not appreciate the eyesore of running tracks, but considering where Angola is coming from and how it has all come together the stadiums would still seem to be an intriguing sort of modern soccer monument.

Most of the Egyptians still ply their trade in their home country, which offers relative riches compared to other domestic African leagues, and are thus lesser known than those lighting up the Premier League or La Liga stocking the other tournament favourites teams. This proved to be very important in both Egypt’s victory march and our perception of it (I know many underestimated Egypt as I did: Brian has also confessed to this at the Run of Play).

The feeling at the start of the tournament seemed to be that either the hosts Ghana, girded with home advantage and the titan known as Michael Essien, or Ivory Coast, with the (real) African Player of the Year Didier Drogba, would take the title. There was much talk about how many Europe-based players there were this time, and we settled back to watch these superstars duke it out.

The fact that Egypt have yet to repeat their African success on the world stage also contributes to our ignorance of their quality, but the truth is they deservedly won the African title just two years ago, and now have a record six continental titles.

Even come the final, after Cameroon had dispatched the hosts and Egypt had beaten the vaunted Ivorians, it was felt that Samuel Eto’o and company would hold off Egypt’s title defense.

But Egypt thoroughly deserved their 1-0 win today. Where Egypt were compact, composed and creative, Cameroon were the reverse, looking as if they’d just met each other at kick-off and with a singular strategy to funnel the ball up the middle as quickly as possible to their superstar striker, isolated and triple-man-marked.

I think, when assessing Egypt, many European-orientated observers forgot three things:

1) The Egyptians were always liable to be hungrier for success. They weren’t dealing with journeys as tiring, with as much media pressure from around the world, or with big name club managers bitching about the tournament and concerns about wearing themselves out for the Premier League title race (Didier Drogba, anyone?).

2) Many of them play for the same clubs in the Egyptian League, so they know each other intimately as both players and people. Today, Cameroon’s players seemed to pass the ball with absolutely no idea whether the receiving player was going to make the run into the space they played it into or not. And usually not. Egypt functioned as a unit, also reflecting a traditional difference between West and North African football we oft-forget when we lump all African football into one style.

3) Egyptian domestic football is better than it is usually credited for. They are used to large crowds, pressure and big tournaments. Egypt’s El-Ahly have reached three successive African Champions League finals. Whereas many other African nations rely on several star players to draw, Egypt had less stellar power but more strength in depth, whoever was on the field. Certainly, Egypt had some great individual performances — my man of the match today was their impressive and experienced captain, Ahmed Hassan — but they didn’t suffer in the way Ghana did when forced to redeploy Michael Essien to defence, or over-rely on Eto’o, as Cameroon did today.

All in all, Egypt were a deserved winner, and gave us a salutary reminder that quality footballers are in abundance outside Europe’s top leagues.

Photo credit: GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images

In the Guardian, Paul Doyle wrote:

I’ve been to two matches so far and though neither featured the hosts, Ghanaians have been generous in their support for the other teams. If the organisers had been equally generous in their ticket pricing (the cheapest is four cedis, or over US$4), the stadiums would have been packed. As it was, Accra’s Ohene Djan Stadium was little over half-full for Tuesday’s bout between a regal Ivory Coast side and the disappointingly tame Eagles of Mali. But still the noise was incredible.

And Reuters explains the difficulties for local fans, and offers a creative solution:

Tunisia coach Roger Lemerre believes that the empty stadiums are part of the African reality. Few locals can afford tickets, he says, and those who can are unlikely to want to spend hard-earned cash to watch two teams from distant countries.

The huge distances and lack of cheap flights make it almost impossible for ordinary fans from other countries to be present, apart from those who are flown in at the expense of their own governments or team sponsors.

“You just don’t get the travelling fans,” said Lemerre. “It’s a long way to come from South Africa and Morocco and, even if the supporters could get here, there is still the problem of accommodation.”

But could organisers try to find more creative solutions?

When the new stadium in Tamale, venue for the Group D matches, was officially inaugurated, fans were allowed in for free and the arena was so packed that all those under the age of 15 were asked to leave.

Allowing locals in for free instead of charging them up to a month’s salary for a seat seems an obvious option. After all, most of the flag-waving, drum-beating visiting fans you see at the Nations Cup are on all-expenses paid trips, while the media areas are also full on hangers-on. It would hardly be unfair to them.

As the knockout phase begins, one hopes we’ll see full stadiums enjoying what so far has been an extremely exciting tournament.

Photo credit: 1xtra on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Photo credit: oceansunfish on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

The gentleman in pink is a popular comedian in Ghana, on his way to the opening ceremony at the African Cup of Nations. Photo by Oluniyi David Ajao, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Photo credit: 1Xtra on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Photo credit: ^ mAyAkA ^ on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Of course, many of the players from African nations are more and more familiar to those of us who watch European football religiously. Is this why there seems to be more interest in the Cup than even two years ago amongst your average world football fan? Or is it due to the internet, shrinking our horizons just enough this time?

This is the place to put any thoughts you have about the tournament as it kicks off today in Ghana. Or will you be boycotting it, because you think Sepp Blatter is right that the priority should be the needs of club football?

And perhaps most importantly, have you picked a team to root for? For me, it’s the Super Eagles of Nigeria. This goes all the way back to USA ’94 which, you might recall, is the last time England failed to qualify for the World Cup.

As soon as I saw Nigeria play, they won me over. I don’t want to offer awful cliches about African football, but there was something refreshing about them, particularly in contrast to Graham Taylor’s godawful England team at the time (Taylor being Steve McClaren crossed with the boss from The Office, convinced the future of football lay in the 70 yard hit and hope).

When Italy came back to knock Nigeria out in the second round, quite unjustly I thought, it was a minor tragedy in my footballing life. So I will be cheering on the Super Eagles, as soon as I can figure out how to watch the games on the internet here in America. . .

Day One

The opener, Ghana vs. Guinea, has begun. Even though I purchased a subscription to the group stage on jumptv.com, it’s not working so I’m watching pixellated figures on Sopcast instead. Daryl is doing a fine job liveblogging over at the World Cup Blog right now telling me what’s actually happening, so join us there if you’re interested. I’ll also add some observations in the comments below, and you should, too. 0-0 at half-time, despite Ghana’s absolute dominance.

1-0: Ghana score from the spot, with a somewhat dubious penalty, but it’s hard to argue with the scoreline.

1-1!: Guinea score, a powerful header tying it up. Unfair on Ghana, but the sight of Guinea’s fans dancing deleriously in the stands with joy was a heart-warming moment.

2-1 Ghana: Muntari, from thirty yards out in the 90th minute, rips off an absolute cliched belter, screamer, or whatever else you want to call it, into the top corner. Ghana goes wild.

Morocco beat a poor Namibia side in the opening day’s other game, in front of a disappointingly empty stadium. View the goals here.

Day Two

Ivory Coast-Nigeria: Perhaps the most glamorous clash of the first round is going on as I type — Ivory Coast, starring the likes of Didier Drogba, against my favourites, Nigeria’s Super Eagles. It’s 0-0 in the first half, with Yobo doing a fine job containing Drogba. Join Daryl at the World Cup Blog for liveblogging action right now.

An hour later, and Ivory Coast have edged a solid win. The two teams were both so powerful and athletic — who knew Obi Mikel could be made to look normal — they cancelled each other out for large portions of the game. But a magic dribble by Kalou was enough for the Elephants to sneak it, and deservedly so.

According to reports emanating from Kenya, the Black Stars had been booked to stay at the luxury Labadia Beach Hotel, at a reduced rate negotiated months ago.

But when the team returned home from their training camp in Abu Dhabi, they found their booking from Wednesday had been cancelled so that the hotel could free up the rooms and make more money.

Some hotels in Accra are charging up to R2000 a night as they seek to profit from the visitors arriving for the tournament. Rates are in some case triple the normal prices charged.

On the plus side of this is that unprecedented numbers of travelling fans are expected from the competing nations.

Also worth reading — Some People Are On the Pitch has an excellent Cup preview, as does The Offside, and Road to 2010 World Cup continues to round-up all the news brilliantly.

Photo credit: Stig Nygaard