…by complaining about the officiating.

Two hours after the US Match: Koman Coulibaly still on en.wikipedia.org's "List of bank robbers and robberies"

Also see Koman Coulibaly’s Wikipedia Page Defaced Within Minutes of US Draw

Poor Koman Coulibaly.  He had a tough match, and as much as I love Mali and Malian football, that was a goal he whistled off. I do find it interesting that he’s an anti-corruption investigator, and likely the most honest and unflamboyant fella you’ll ever meet.  So there’s really no justification for accusing the man of corruption over this, as Eric Wynalda apparently did, from the front lines of his California living room.

But what an appalling call.

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One of the many menacing street parties of South Africa, from soccerphile.com. Chilling.

As I’ll be spending most of this month tied to a TV or radio, I’ve so far noted one shocking fact: The South African World Cup is not riven by crime, corruption, shoddy workmanship, or terrorism. In fact, things are going swimmingly, the stadiums operations and infrastructure are beautiful, and the only deaths among the 450,000 visitors have been from road accident and falling off a mountain while admiring the scenery.

There’s more realistic complaints about the football itself, especially after the South African side’s almost suicidally poor performances (not to mention a drought of goals, dashed expectations for most African sides, and disastrous English, Spanish, and French performances).  But even if rose gardens have not been delivered on the field or in terms of secondary development, so much of the press run up was so negative — even years of rumors that FIFA would move the cup at the last moment — that it may come as a shock how happy foreign fans are with what they’ve found in South Africa.

One report quotes a puzzled German fan.  Puzzled because, despite the foreign press hysterics, he can go to a local bar and discover “I’m the only white guy in the room but I feel very safe.”.

South African sports reporter Peter Davies has a wonderful piece entitled An Open letter to our Foreign Media friends, marveling at the gloom of foreign media outlets who quake in terror of “machete-wielding gangs roaming the suburbs in search of tattooed, overweight Dagenham dole-queuers to ransack and leave gurgling on the pavement.” But surprise! There’s no fear in walking the streets provided you don’t hang a wad of cash out your back pocket. There are also a surprising shortage of wild animal attacks and collapsing stadia. “For instance, you will find precious few rhinos loitering on street corners, we don’t know a guy in Cairo named Dave just because we live in Johannesburg, and our stadiums are magnificent, world-class works of art.”

Andrew Harding, the BBC’s Africa correspondent, writes about tourists having “had some preconceptions overturned” as England fans descended on Phokeng. While local worried about hooligans (there were none), visitors realized they may have been misled about the dangers of “black Africa”. “We stayed at Sun City, said a couple from Leeds, sitting at [a black African run] bar. We were worried about the crime. But now we just wish we’d come and stayed here.”

Football, eh?

That said…

There are real complaints about South Africa — suffering from gross inequality and rampant poverty — throwing this much money at a World Cup party.  I do agree.  But that’s all of capitalism, not just football.  And it’s not like they were really going to spend this money on poor folks.  At best this can be an opportunity to cross borders in solidarity, to share these struggles, both in Africa and abroad.  But I for one love sport, and the joy it brings.  While those who look after the rich alone will always screw the poor, football can be our weapon as well as ours.  Here are some links to the Poor People’s Movement and The Shack Dwellers Movement in South Africa, and social struggles around the World Cup, including the brilliant “Poor People’s Alternative World Cup.”

• A Short History of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the Durban Shack Dwellers’ Movement (Abahlali baseMjondolo)
  • “Upside Down World Cup”: Raj Patel on How South Africa Has Cracked Down on the Poor and the Shack Dwellers’ Movement Ahead of the World Cup
  • The First Poor People’s World Cup on African Soil from the website of the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
  • South Africa: World Cup for All – (Durban Social Forum)
  • SOUTH AFRICA: Poor people’s movement draws government wrath (IRIN News)
• Riot police move in as World Cup pay protests spread (The Guardian)
• Thousands protest against World Cup spending (Mail & Guardian Online)
• World Cup in South Africa: Six red cards for FIFA (Links International Journal)
• South Africa’s World Cup is a disgrace (radical africa)
• South Africa’s World Cup fest not worth the coming hangover by Patrick Bond (ZCommunications)
• Back the people of South Africa, not the football teams (newstatesman.com)
• Raj Patel: Off-Side at the World Cup (huffingtonpost.com)

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One doesn’t see much film, let alone color film, of African football under colonial rule. So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled across clips of a French colonial propaganda newsreel featuring the my favorite African club side wining a colonial cup final from 1956. The person selling old newsreel films has uploaded two parts of the color highlights of Jeanne d’Arc Bamako (since 1960 known as Stade Malien de Bamako) defeating Abidjan side ASEC, now the giants of Ivorian football, ASEC Mimosas. In one clip – the third frame reproduced below – you can see Cheikh Oumar Diallo for Bamako, scoring his second goal in the 75th minute with a flying deflection from the left post, right under the keeper. This was Jeanne d’Arc Bamako’s second French West Africa Cup (Coupe d’AOF), one of the high points for the young club, who might be best known as the 2009 champions of the CAF Confederation Cup.

AOF Coupe Final May 6, 1956; Parc Municipal des Sports, Dakar; att: 10,000

Jeanne d’Arc (Bamako) 3-0 ASEC (Abidjan)

Mamadou Koné 4,
Cheikh Oumar Diallo 40, ~75

JAB: N’Faly Kanouté; Dembélé, Siré Diakité, Yaya Traoré, Seydou Ndao, Oumar Sy, Seydou “Toto” Thiam, Issakha Mbodj, Cheikh Oumar Diallo, Bakoraba Touré, Mamadou “Battling” Koné;

ASE: Théophile Lawson; François Nianzan, Marc Aka, Augustin Kodio, Ernest Achy, Fabre Guy, François Adékoua, Gaston Zakoua, Benjamin Akouaté, Ignace Ouégnin, Pierre Anoh;

ref: Anianboussou (Dahomey)

While its sometimes hard to keep up with African football abroad, one of the spin offs of technology is that it is easier now than ever.  ASEC has a world class website (http://www.asec.ci/), and you can read match highlights from Bamako in half a dozen online papers. Here’s a music video of highlights of Stade 2009 Caf campaign from just one Malian football website. There’s even a Facebook group for Stade Malien supporters.   But whatever else changes,  he beauty of a ball hitting the back of a net, as you can see from these movies, is timeless.

In case you’ve been under a rock for the last few hours, Ireland were dumped out of the 2010 World Cup by France, who needed a 2-1 aggregate result to get past the Irish.  They got it on a ball that was handled twice by previously believed to be classy French fella, Theirry Henry.

I still can’t get over this. I always liked Henry, despite the clubs he played for. But that was just wrong, even if I were a neutral observer. Clearly cupping his hand, paddling the ball (heading out) to Gallas who knocks it into the net. Really criminal. I hope France draw Cote d’Ivoire in the WC and get stuffed the way Senegal did them last time.

Former Ireland, Celtic, and L’OM great Tony Cascarino penned a subtle piece  of level headed journalism entitled “Thierry Henry is an insincere cheat who has tarnished his reputation for good”

I’ve always loved Tony, and he’s a bit upset here (as you can imagine). “I’m no angel, but I know that I wouldn’t have done what he did. And if the roles had been reversed and Ireland had reached South Africa in such a dubious way, would I have been delighted at victory? Of course. Would I have felt it was tainted? Absolutely. … I’m gutted for Ireland and for football. ”

Mary Hannigan writes: “Lest we forget, Ireland reached these play-offs by finishing second to reigning world champions Italy in their qualifying group, unbeaten in their 10 games, before having to get the better of the 1998 World Cup winners over two legs. A daunting route, it was, to South Africa, the journey ending short of its destination last night.” But wouldn’t trade for this result if I had to live out the rest of my life as Thierry Henry.

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One of the three best nights for US football just happened in beautiful Bloemfontein, the States reaching the finals of the Confederation Cup by convincingly shutting down Spain, a side unbeaten since 2006, European champions, and argubly the best team in the world right now.  The BBC announcers could confidently predict “Spain will have 70% possession tonight, no doubt about it“ just two minutes into the match, before the US players marked early shots, neutering the Spanish midfield, and stomping on their fingers at the US goal.  Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit were everywhere in the back, and Timmy Howard was the wall he always is.

Nicest man you’ll ever meet, as an aside.  He can’t drink because of tourette’s, but he’d come to every Supporters club do we had at the old Metrostars to hang out with us drunken nobodies.  His fame is well earned on and off the pitch.

But the early goal by Jozy Altidore, the 19 year old child of Haitian immigrants to New Jersey, was one for all time.  Demmpsey’s second half goal to make it two seemed inevitable, as the Spanish could do nothing at the goal mouth, and  Altidore cut through them like a razor through the first 45.  Free State Stadium’s pitch looked like his backyard.

Read the pre-game set up: it’s no hyperbole to call this a stunner.  Roll on to Sunday!

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Pepe Kalle‘s musical tribute to “the greatest African footballer of the century”, Roger Milla, with the little needed  but very enjoyable video evidence. (more…)