The past few days has seen a rather dark side to the game of football. A few weeks ago a friend and I were sat in a bar talking about what players our football teams would be losing during the African Nations Cup. He was moaning that he could not understand why the competition was held at this particular time of the year and also the meaning of the cup. I tried to reply that it was the equivalent of the European Championships and that the leading African Nations were among the best teams in the world and the tournament itself was a spectacle to enjoy. I don’t think I convinced him.
For those who follow the game religiously, like my friend and I, the only concerns we really had were how we were going to cope losing some of our top stars during the tournament. Chelsea have lost Drogba, Mikel, Essien and Kalou four of our top players. For those who do not follow the game then you would only be aware of this if you read the back pages.
That was until last week.
On Friday the Togo national football team were traveling to their camp to prepare for their first game of the tournament. On the way they came under attack in Angola. The blame has been placed on the The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda and as I type this I read that two men have been arrested. Two members of the team as well as the driver were killed. Immediately all Premiership managers were calling for the tournament to be called off and the players to return home. I personally did not agree to this decision.
The African Cup of Nations is a tournament that has had it’s moments off the pitch. The political climate in Africa is far more unstable than that in Europe and there will always be issues regarding certain teams playing against or in varying countries. An instance where an attack claimed the lives of three people before the tournament even began has hardly helped calm the fears of those supporters thinking of traveling to South Africa for the world cup in two years time.
Yet even in tragedy the real beauty of football can shine through even the darkest cloud. Last nights game between Angola and the lowly Mali began with a wonderful one minute’s silence that was observed by all. Angola soon took a 4-0 lead and were cruising. Then with just eleven minutes left on the clock the unthinkable happened Mail pulled a goal back, then another and sensationally scored two goals in the last minute to ensure a 4-4 draw.
It was quite simply one of the most amazing games of football I can recall seeing and placed the focus once more on the game. This year’s tournament will always be remembered for what happened to the Togo team. But it shows that even in times of pain, football truly is The Beautiful Game.