Afcon 2013 Videos

I've finally found the video clips of Afcon 2013 on my camera. Here's a little slice of what it was like at the tournament.

1.) South African fans getting irate at the score-bore between Bafana and Cape Verde.

2.) The closing ceremony starts but it's difficult to see the pitch.

3.) Despite going 1-0 down in the final, the Burkinabé drum and dance relentlessly.

4.) Final whistle goes, Nigeria run onto the pitch and the crowd celebrate.

Like the World Cup should have been

In the couple of days leading up to the Afcon final, street vendors began to appear selling Burkina Faso and Nigeria flags. This was far from the mass scale of flag-selling during the World Cup but it was still a sign that the Afcon party was belatedly infecting Johannesburg.

Want a flag?

Even the metro cops were joining in

Having made the decision to turn up extremely early to avoid the traffic chaos that I had experienced earlier in the tournament, my friend Chris and I arrived with a little less than four hours until kickoff. Even at this point, crowds were slowly streaming into the stadium precinct. Flags, vuvuzelas, body paint, makarapas, whistles and singing created a buzz. The vast majority of people were supporting Nigeria. This is perhaps unsurprising considering the large Nigerian community in the city, especially in the central areas of Hillbrow and Berea. What was surprising was the number of South Africans also supporting the Super Eagles. Crime and criminality have become associated with Nigerians living in the city and it is all too easy for people to blame 'Nigerians' for the city's problems. This football match appeared to turn this association upside down; being Nigerian or associating with Nigeria had become a positive thing, if only temporarily.

Nigerian fans already in party mode

African media agencies pounce on the partygoers

Walking towards the spectacular stadium, it was quickly apparent that this was unlike the World Cup almost three years previously. As football fans, we had been promised an African World Cup (whatever that entailed). After all, we had been repeatedly told that "It's Africa's Turn" and that South Africa would show the world what Africa had to offer. Instead, we were met with the bland, commercialised environment in which we could only consume official sponsors' products. Despite the introduction of cheaper category four tickets for South Africans, high ticket prices barred many of the domestic football supportership from participating. The local flavour of the tournament had been reduced to vuvuzelas. As one of my research informants summarised, "this could be anywhere!"

Sorry mate but Tunisia didn't qualify

I bet they did

This time was different. Cheaper tickets must have been a factor, allowing those who could be a part of the World Cup to engage, to experience and to celebrate. The final was a dream for the proponents of the Rainbow Nation. People of different races, ethnicity, class and gender were socialising with one another, dancing, cheering and blowing vuvuzelas together. Yet it was more than that. Whether their team had reached the final or not, the vast array of different African football shirts and flag signalled an wider belonging to Africa. Zambia, Ethiopia, Tunisia, DR Congo, Somalia and Tanzania were just a small number of those I saw.

Firestarters after Nigeria score

Police and stewards 'leap' into action

The bland hot dogs of the World Cup had been replaced with the pap and steak and boerwors rolls, staple foods at domestic matches (although prices had skyrocketed - Afcon final premium I guess. I paid R50 for my pap and steak). The small group of Burkinabé near me drummed from start to final whistle, giving the tournament the beat that had been lacking. Despite their team never recovering from going 1-0 down, they carried on drumming and dancing throughout; an impressive effort. I had been given a giant inflatable orange hand, which I used to hi-five anyone who would let me. Three-quarters of the stadium erupted just before half time when Nigeria went ahead. Some idiots set off a flare, which forced the South African Police Service (who attempted to look casual and sporty in their tracksuits) to 'leap' into action. Despite going through five roadblocks to get to the stadium, the security checks on fans walking in were inconsistent at best. A feeble, half-hearted pat down from a steward would do little to detect things such as flares. This constantly happens at local games; my favourite is still seeing someone pull out a full bottle of whisky from his sock! Although better than the desert that made up the Mbombela pitch, the pitch at the National Stadium still resembled a beach with clouds of sand constantly kicked up by the players. A far cry from the World Cup. 

The Burkinabé supplied the beat

Pitch or beach?

And this creates a problem. I've fallen into the trap of comparing a westernised, modern, slick, commercialised World Cup with the chaotic yet dynamic African tournament. I'm not sure how to extricate myself from this other than to continue digging my hole with my romanticism of the final. It was vibrant, a celebration of African football, and a welcoming atmosphere. Most of all, it was fun.

The game wasn't bad either.

Nigeria fans in celebration

Nigeria prays in celebration as a tiny spaceship descends...

The inevitable traffic chaos ensued after the game as thousands of people tried to get home as quickly as possible, but this didn't seem to matter so much this time.

Nigeria celebrating on the big screen

The final party

Yet, as I drove to work this morning, the newspaper headlines attached to most Jo'burg streetlights were not about the final but Manchester United extending their lead at the top of the English Premier League. Is the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations already being forgotten?

The non-return of Football Fridays

I was driving home from work this evening when over the radio came an advert for Football Fridays, telling listeners to wear their Bafana or other African jerseys to celebrate the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in the country and support the national team. I was surprised when I heard this as it had taken until semi-final day for this to reach me. Now I haven't had my fingers in my ears or my eyes closed throughout this tournament so to only find out about this now is indicative of the weak interest in the Afcon. This was designed to get South Africans 'behind the boys' but the lack of evidence of this happening reveals the muted reaction that the tournament has received, at least here in Johannesburg.

Rewind to the 2010 World Cup and Football Fridays were a much different phenomenon. The initiative created by the Southern Sun hotel chain and subsequently endorsed by the tournament's organising committee, encouraged all South Africans to wear their Bafana jerseys to work on Fridays leading up to the World Cup. While designed to foster a nationwide support for Bafana, it actually reinforced divisions. The official Adidas shirts ranged from R300 to R1000 but those who couldn't afford it/ didn't want to spend that much turned to the vibrant black market in pirated, unofficial Bafana shirts. Football Fridays were a visible success with Bafana shirts seemingly everywhere on Fridays. In the aftermath of the tournament, Football Fridays became "Fly the Flag Fridays in which South Africans were encouraged to continue wearing their Bafana shirts although this quickly flopped.

 

Today, the attempted resurrection of Football Fridays has been the brainchild of Lead SA. The problem has been that there has not been the level of anticipation in the build up to the Afcon as there was for the World Cup, which had built up a critical mass of hype beforehand. It turns out that this time around, the initiative was dead in the water before it was launched.

Still, I shall belatedly enter into Football Friday and wear my Bafana shirt this Friday. Any excuse not to dress smart...

Finding a fan park

In a recent post, I claimed that there were no fan parks in Johannesburg for the Africa Cup of Nations but it turns out that I was wrong. Well, sort of.

I had come to this conclusion when driving past the sites of the main 2010 World Cup fan parks in the city to find that nothing was happening. During the World Cup, Mary Fitzgerald Square had giant screens, banners, live music, a large beer tent and numerous stalls selling food prepared by local vendors and local goods such as makarapas (a quintessentially South African football item). A giant figure made up of Coca-Cola crates loomed large and was instantly recognisable from the highway. Crowds of fans from different parts of the city congregated to watch some of the matches, notably Bafana's win over France and the final, in a party atmosphere. This park was run by the city, in contrast to the other two in Sandton (in the north) and Soweto (in the south), which were official FIFA Fan Parks where only 'official' merchandise could be sold and consumed. These parks haven't re-emerged this time, and it has deadened the beat of the Afcon in Jo'burg.

Bafana v France at Mary Fitzgerald Square in 2010. This was the vibe that I was hoping for in 2013

Still, a reader had corrected me on the lack of fan parks in the city so I duly did a Google search. Lo and behold, I found that the city had organised nine fan parks in the greater Johannesburg area. Yet these are not like the fan parks that I've described above. During the World Cup, the city also set up a number of smaller fan parks located in the poorer parts of the city, under the Township TV scheme. Football fans, for whom tickets, transport and television were financially out of reach, could communally watch the games on a not-so-giant screen. However, when I went to these places, I found only small groups of people quietly watching the games. Not the celebratory environment that had been expected by the organisers.

For 2013, Township TV has again been used to reach those who cannot afford to go to the games and to watch them as part of a larger group. The organisers have said that they are expecting thousands to attend the nine parks, where you cannot wish for a more vibey celebration of this continental football extravaganza. It was also promising to read that security has been beefed-up as well.

So I headed down to Joubert Park in the centre of Johannesburg last night. To give you a brief taste, Joubert Park was a whites-only residential area under apartheid but today suffers from urban decay and borders the notorious Hillbrow and slightly less notorious Berea. Part of me thought that I shouldn't be there at night but my research experience there combined with the fact that I had never had any problems there before put my fears to rest.

Problem was that when I got there, there was no sign of the vibey celebration, nor the beefed up security. Only a few handfulls of people were sitting on the grass, watching the match. The screen itself was only three-quarters working, with the score permanently obscured. Commentary was fairly audible, but was underwhelming against the bustling sounds of the surrounding city as people made their way home. I had a few confused stares from people watching the game, as the only white guy there, but there was a general sense of apathy. Elsewhere in the park, the multiple chess games and especially the giant chess game appeared to draw more interest from passersby than the football did.

The 'crowds' at Joubert Park

Where is the vibe?

Yet, I have to make it clear that South Africa have not had long to organise hosting the tournament, which had been scheduled to have been in Libya. They've made a pretty good go of things considering. Burkina Faso v Zambia and Ethiopia v Nigeria were probably not fixtures that were going to alter Furthermore, Joubert Park was not one of the four parks that have been adorned with the local flavour of makarapas, SA flags, vuvuzelas and the patriotic fervour of our soccer fans in support of Bafana Bafana.  

Burkina Faso v Zambia and Ethiopia v Nigeria were probably not fixtures that were going to alter people's daily routines but come Saturday's quarter-final between SA and Mali, these parks may yet take on a new lease of life. Hopefully.

A subdued beat

One of the key sights of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations has been emptiness. Aside from the opener between South Africa and Cape Verde, the TV cameras have picked up images of large swathes of empty seats. Whether it was Burkina Faso’s last gasp equaliser against Nigeria in Nelspruit or Tunisia’s equally late winner versus Algeria in Rustenburg, the empty seats appeared to outnumber the fans that had made the trip. Coverage from previous editions of the tournament in Ghana, Angola and Equatorial Guinea picked up similar images. This is clearly not a South African-only problem.

Empty seats at the AFCON 2013 opener. Other games have had far fewer spectators.

I had earlier hoped that the more reasonable pricing structure for this tournament as opposed to the 2010 World Cup would have made the games more accessible to majority of poorer, working class football fans; those who make up the vast majority of the support base of SA’s domestic clubs. The empty seats suggest that it’s reaching few people in general.

So what are the issues behind this?

Firstly, there aren’t many players in this tournament that can be described as superstars. In the World Cup, there was Messi, Ronaldo and the entire Spanish squad. This time around, there’s Drogba, whose career is winding down in China but few others. Yes, there are players such as Yaya Toure and Asamoah Gyan but they simply do not have the same star status. Why spend hard-earned money to watch two teams that you have little or no interest in?

Secondly, the 5 pm kick off times are hardly conducive to getting bums on seats. As I write this, I have one eye on the Bafana v Angola match. While attendance seems to be significantly greater than in most of the other matches, there are still many empty seats. Traffic at this time in the major cities can be nightmarish and some fans will be unwilling to put themselves through the gridlock and confusion. To make sure that you get to the stadium in plenty of time means taking the afternoon off work.

A big contributory factor has to be that there are few, if any African countries that have a large fan base with a large enough disposable income to fly out to the southern tip of the continent for the tournament. Unlike the vast hoards of travelling football tourists at the Euros or at the World Cup, the support of visiting teams is usually restricted to a small rump of die-hard regular fans who are sometimes subsided by the state or political parties. While the commitment on the part of these fans is impressive, this is not going to fill these former World Cup venue. This is a problem that is not going to go away anytime soon.

But the thing that strikes me most as I write from Johannesburg is the absence of evidence that the stadium is taking place. In 2010, there were numerous posters around the city, large fan parks with big screens and people blowing vuvuzelas on street corners. Thousands crammed onto the streets in the north of the city when Bafana went on an open-top bus tour while a giant photo of Cristiano Ronaldo was emblazoned on Nelson Mandela Bridge. This time, it is severely underwhelming. There is no party atmosphere, no fan parks, little hype on the TV or radio. Bafana shirts are far less apparent on the street in contrast to 2010. It’s not totally absent though. Staff at my local Spar were wearing their Bafana shirts today, while bar staff on Soweto’s tourist strip on Vilikazi Street were doing the same.

Still, it’s as if the tournament has passed Jo’burg by and I wouldn’t be surprised if it passes most of South Africa by with little more than a passing awareness that Africa’s biggest football tournament is in their country. The slogan of the tournament is “The beat at Africa’s feet” but this beat is strangely subdued.

Maybe people realise that they have more important things to do than watch football?

N.B. Moses Mabhida stadium seems to be fuller in the second half. The commentator on Supersport has suggested that there is an excessive number of security cordons, which has delayed many fans from getting into the ground until the latter part of the first half.

Opening game and the search for the imaginary cemetery

If the ticketing process on the day was fairly smooth and unproblematic, the journey to the stadium for the opening games made up for it with its chaos and mayhem. As with the 2010 World Cup, park and ride, and park and walk schemes had been created to help facilitate the smooth arrival and departure of thousands of football fans although this wasn't announced when I tried to find out details only two weeks before the tournament.

The national stadium at night

 

That was the theory. My experience of it was didn’t fit the model.

Having been to many of the 2009 Confederations Cup and seven World Cup matches, I had developed an understanding of how these systems worked and the best ones to use. As with 2010, Jo’burg had multiple park and ride venues dotted around the city, where fans could park their cars and take the Rea Vaya bus transit system (initially introduced in time for the World Cup) to the FNB National Stadium. Alternatively, fans could park their cars at Park Station in the centre of Johannesburg and take the train. The other option was the park and walk, in which large car parking areas around the stadium were used and fans could walk the rest of the way to the uniquely designed ground, sandwiched between Jo’burg and Soweto. I had used this method on several occasions before and found it to be the most convenient way, especially when you knew the shortcut to avoid the highway.

It had started off so well. I bought the park and walk ticket from a Computicket outlet, a national chain of ticket sellers of various sporting and other cultural events. I had identified which area I wanted and handed over my R50.

I should have checked the ticket.

My girlfriend and I drove down to the stadium and I was growing in my smugness of bypassing the traffic queues. We’d driven through multiple police roadblocks designed to only allow ticket holders through and numerous policemen had seen our parking ticket. The problem was that it wasn’t for the area that I had asked for but for the “Cemetery”. I’d never seen or heard of a cemetery near the stadium, and it appeared that the stewards and police hadn’t either. We were told to drive on and turn right. So we did. Then we were told to drive on some more and turn right again. So we did. Eventually we were told later on that we had passed it despite no signs for it and we were clearly not the only ones; many drivers displayed confused looks. Eventually we found what allegedly was the cemetery, although there was not a gravestone in sight.

Yet, while this anecdote is a negative one, I refuse to believe that this was the only experience that match-goers had. Buses full of supporters arrived in the stadium precinct like clockwork, while fans were calmly pouring out of the adjacent train station. I’ll reserve judgement until I have a wider experience of this throughout the tournament.

Still, I wasn’t going to let this spoil my anticipation. Getting closer to the stadium, the wall of vuvuzela noise grew to deafening levels. Love it or hate it, the build-up to the opener between the hosts, South Africa, and Cape Verde was electric. The match had been sold out (although in reality, there were plenty of empty seats dotted around but more on that in a future post) and when the national anthems were played, I had goosebumps. Never had I heard Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika belted out with so much force and passion, and the subsequent rendition of Shosholoza (an old mine labourers song which is the only song at a national football match that most South Africans appear to know the words) was phenomenal.

There was passion at the beginning of the game but it soon died as Bafana's inability to score became apparent

 

And that was the best it got. For those of you who watched the match, you’ll know that it was a score-bore. Bafana Bafana were clueless and uninspiring. The minnows from Cape Verde at the very least deserved the draw, if not more. Whether this was Bafana’s true ability in stark reality or just a case of opening day jitters remains to be seen.

At least getting home was far easier (apart from when I got lost but I only have myself to blame)…

Grassroots football without the grass

I've discovered that the end of the World Cup does not have to be a bad thing in the world of football. After hanging out yesterday afternoon with a couple of friends in one of the shebeens in my area, we came across a local game in Malvern between two sides playing for money, something that I've come across many times before and have even participated in it (I gave up though when a striker kicked my face in - it was a 50/50 ball and as goalkeeper, I managed to pounce on it a second before he got there. OUCH!). While the pitch had goalposts and nets, there was little in the way of grass. It was a dusty, bumpy pitch with grooves in the earth to mark out the boundaries. Not something that the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo and Messi would fancy playing on!

 Give me my beer!!

 Relaxing in the shebeen

Dan was wearing his Kaizer Chiefs shirt and people thought that he might be from the club; maybe a scout ready to unearth the next Pienaar? The sight of two white Englishmen armed with their cameras confused the row of people that lined the street to watch the game. Maybe we were professional photographers or journalists? The great thing about being in the shebeen and at the football match is that people are genuinely pleased to see you. Throughout the course of my time in South Africa, I have been welcomed by people everywhere. Sometimes I've felt guilty about owning a big camera when I've been with people that have had a lot less than me but it's also proved to be a great ice breaker. So many times, I've struck up conversations with various people after taking photos of them or with them.

Faking injury isn't just an elite football problem. Apparently a bottle of water can cure an ankle injury. Who'd have thought?

Keeper completely misses the ball. Rob Green must be his role model...

As Peter Alegi blogs, getting back to grassroots football is a welcome relief for many of us after the commercialism of the World Cup. 

 The pitch was of a similar quality to Wembley

 Tiverton Town don't get many more spectators

Conspiracy theory of a car guard

As I pulled out of the parking space, wound down the window and tipped the car guard, he saw the England flag over on my wing mirror.

"Yoh! You boys did badly baba!", he exclaimed.

"I know. We were useless. It's been a great World Cup though".

"It was good but the referees stopped some teams who deserved it from going through. They were racist!"

"What do you mean?"

"The European referees stopped African teams from going through".

"What? Like Bafana and Ghana?" (Olegario Benquerenca of Portugal officiated at the Uruguay - Ghana match when Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez handled THAT ball off the line and Asamoah Gyan missed the subsequent penalty. I've lost count how many people claim that Swiss referee Massimo Busacca had no right to send off Bafana keeper Itumeleng Khune against Uruguay)

"Yeah, the racist referees wanted to keep Africans out. They [Europeans] want to keep football for themselves".

I wasn't in the mood to argue so I just smiled, nodded and drove off. This was supposed to be "Africa's turn" but the Europeans seem to have done a smash and grab.

Time to catch up on a month of lost sleep

It is over. Jo'burg life seems to be reverting to normal as the traffic chaos in the city centre resumes. Vuvuzelas are absent from the landscape while Bafana shirts get put back into the cupboard (perhaps never to see the light of day again?). The nationwide hangover is beginning. What can we talk about now? Conversations become awkward as people struggle to think of things to discuss. SABC told us to "Feel it. It is here!", but it no longer is. The PSL season is too far away and pre-season friendlies seem a hollow, empty replacement. Kaizer Chiefs v Eleven Arrows from Namibia just doesn't inspire me the way Ghana v Uruguay did. Manchester United v Philadelphia Union is not a patch on Germany v Argentina and I really cannot get excited about Tiverton Town v Royal Marines. Having waited years for this, I am left stumbling around trying to work out where the past month has gone.

South Africa should give itself the proverbial pat on the back for such an exciting tournament. Of course there have been a few blips but then no tournament is without problems. It has been a month-long party feeling, desperately trying to fit in work around the football. The hospitality has been so warm and friendly that it will be difficult to match in future World Cups. Jo'burg has been transformed, if only temporarily

Reading the papers yesterday morning, it was striking that so many companies had taken out full page adverts congratulating the country for hosting the tournament. It's a shameless attempt by these companies to capitalise on the success of the tournament but it's everywhere in the city; billboards, radio stations and TV. The self-congratulatory tone will continue for a while but even that will eventually disappear.

Adverts from yesterday's Sunday Times

The initial plan for yesterday was to head to Melrose Arch at lunchtime to make sure we got parking and to soak up the pre-match atmosphere. Melrose Arch is a fascinating place in Johannesburg. Set behind huge walls and numerous electric fences, it aims to create the feeling of a cosmopolitan town centre with numerous shops and restaurants lining the streets. It is in essence a city within a city. The marketing describes it as "Open spaces replace the cage and cocoon. Life pulsates on the streets once again". Yet the cage is still there, just not so readily apparent. Its fortifications prevents the surrounding city from encroaching; its street life accessible only to the socially mobile middle classes with plenty of disposable income. Gijsbert and I thought we'd try something different after being at the fan parks for other games, but after a couple of R30 beers (which is a lot in Jo'burg), our bank balances were screaming for us to leave, that and our friends were going elsewhere! In one sense it was a shame. Within the two hours that we spent there, crowds of Spanish and Dutch supporters were filling the bars and lining the streets, a mixture of tourists and locals. The exclusivity of the place created a vastly different ambiance than the experiences I've had elsewhere. Apparently, over 10,000 people were there to watch the final. But by that time, we weren't.

In the end, we ended up back at the fan park in the centre of Jo'burg, that tried and tested place. Beer was half the price of Melrose Arch and the food was cheap. It was just as packed for the final as it was for the Bafana v France match that we watched there. Regardless of it being the final, there were still stalls that were closed, an indication that the fan parks have not been as successful as it has been claimed. There must have been more Spanish fans than Dutch ones and when Andres Iniesta scored the winning goal deep into extra time, those in red began singing, dancing and blowing their vuvuzela while the Dutch fans just stood there motionless. Seeing as I was with a group of the latter (I even had a bright orange wig on), we left soon after the final whistle but I can imagine there was a big party afterwards.

The World Cup is gone for another four years but I might need most of that time to recover. I'm sitting at my desk a sleep-deprived man and finding it difficult to construct a coherent sentence together. I've had the time of my life.