Tragedy in the Congo

Horrible news out of the Congo as accusations that a soccer player was using witchcraft (juju) during a match in eastern Congo sparked a riot that killed 13 people, a U.N.-funded radio station reported Monday.

Most of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 16, Radio Okapi said. They were suffocated as panicked crowds ran for the exits during the mayhem Sunday in Butembo in eastern Congo's North Kivu province.

Radio Okapi said police tried to control the violence at Matokeo stadium by firing into the air to protect their commander, who was hit in the head and wounded by fans.

The two local clubs involved were Socozaki and Nyuki System, the radio said.

Dozens of teenagers marched through Butembo's dirt streets Monday in protest, and the regional governor, Julien Mpaluku, paid a visit to the hospital.

Mpaluku said the government was investigating.

He made no mention of witchcraft, but confirmed that soldiers had fired into the air to calm angry crowds.

The shooting prompted panic instead, which became fatal "when the crowds all tried to leave at the same time."

"Most of the dead were children, only two or three were adults," Mpaluku said.

North Kivu has been the epicenter of violence between Congo's army and rebels over the last year which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

MY POV: So sad. My prayers go out to the victims.

African Squads in Midweek Friendlies

Much of the world played World Cup qualifying last night.

Others played friendlies in preparation for the 2010 World Cup.

Africa was no exception as the continent prepares itself for the much-anticipated 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

First up, African champions Egypt were beaten 2-0 by the world's top ranked side, Argentina.

A full strength Egypt side, including controversial keeper Essam El Hadary, conceded two goals in the last 20 minutes to go down to the South American giants.

But in Pretoria, the upcoming World Cup hosts, South Africa, secured a deserved 3-0 victory over their own South American opposition, Paraguay.

In the process, striker Benni McCarthy became his country's top international goalscorer.

In other matches, Ghana lost to Mexico 2-1.

Ghana took the lead in this game, held at Fulham's Craven Cottage ground in London, but they were not able to hold on to it.

After a goalless first half, Michael Essien gave the Black Stars the lead with a driving shot from outside the area, which went in off the post.

But Mexico equalised in simple fashion, when Ghana's substitute goalkeeper, Patrick Antwi, slipped as he prepared to deal with a back pass.

Carlos Salcido punished his mistake.

Four minutes from time, Ghana captain John Mensah hauled down Adolfo Bautista in the box and Mexico's Pavel Pardo stepped up to convert the penalty and give his side the win.

Also, Morocco bounced back from their dreadful Cup of Nations campaign with a 4-1 win over Belgium.

It was a first win for stand-in coach Fathi Jamal, who took over after the departure of Henri Michel.

"After our dramatic exit in the Africa Cup, this really feels great. It has been a long time since we played like this," Morocco playmaker Mbark Boussoufa said.

Tunisia met Ivory Coast in France, and came away with a 2-0 win.

Goals from Tijani Belaid and Radhouane Felhi gave Roger Lemerre's side victory, although the coach is soon to leave his post.

Liberia scored a surprise 2-0 win over Sudan in Khartoum, in their first game under new coach Antoine Hey.

The first result of the day was a 1-1 draw between Uganda and Libya in Kampala.

Caesar Okhuti put the Cranes ahead in the 48th minute, with the equalizer coming in the 90th minute from Younes Shidani.

DR Congo and Algeria were in France for another match taking place near Paris.

Dieumerci Mbokani put the Simbas ahead in the 35th minute, but a late penalty converted by Kamel Ghiles meant the game ended 1-1.

Tanzania's game against Mozambique was canceled due to heavy rains at the old national stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Mozambique turned down a proposal to have the match played on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Zimbabwe beat Botswana 1-0 in Gaborone, with the goal scored by Cuthbert Malajila.

Who Won't Be at the Cup of Nations?

We all know the big-name superstars that will grace the stage at Ghana 2008, familiar names like Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Samuel Eto'o.

But who are the well-known athletes that won't be in Ghana starting this Sunday?

The BBC ran this interesting article today pinpointing some of the superstars who won't be gracing Africa's biggest stage.

For example, there are the players born in Africa who opted to play elsewhere, like Patrick Vieira (pictured), who hails from Senegal but plays for the French national team. Same goes for French teammate Claude Makelele, who was born in DR Congo but left for Europe at a young age.

Ivory Coast was badly hit as well, losing out on Arsenal and Switzerland defender Johan Djourou, and from French striker Djibril Cissé, whose father was an Ivorian international.

It's not only West African nations that have lost out. Algeria lost out on Zinedine Zidane, who is of Algerian origin. Good for France, not so good for Algeria!

Then there's the strange case of one of football's greatest players: Eusebio.

The legendary Eusebio played all his early football in his native Mozambique before moving to Portugal and eventually becoming one of the top goal-scorers at the 1966 World Cup.

Eusebio's case was a little different though: at the time Mozambique did not exist as a country!

Interesting article. Please take a look at the link above.

Personal Musings

It's been some time since I updated you on my travels to South Africa 2010 and the World Cup Final on July 11, 2010.

It's been a good and bad journey so far.
The good has been the wealth of knowledge I've gained about Africa, its people and the wonderful game of football.

The bad has been the unbelieveable task I face of getting to SA 2010.

It's not impossible. Nothing is. But I find the going tough these days and I'm racking my brain for new and better ways of acheiving my goals.

I truly believe I have some solid plans in place. What I'm not so sure about is how to implement them.

Anyways, there's been talk of going back to school, volunteering in Kenya, fund-raising, grant-writing and writing a book.

All solid plans. Now I have to pull the trigger. On something.

I think the most solid plan is my journey to Ghana and the 2008 African Cup of Nations. I see no reason why I can't go. I'm saving the money, I'm determined to do some real first-hand reporting and I'm excited by the possibilities.

Beyond that, the best I can do is learn about the continent and its rich, sometimes pained history.

I recently picked up a book titled, 'King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa' by Adam Hochschild. It deals with Belgium's rule of the Congo at the turn of the 20th century. Here's a description from the book itself:


'In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a genocidal plundering of the Congo, he looted its rubber, brutalized its people, and ultimately slashed its population by ten million--all the while shrewdly cultivating his reputation as a great humanitarian. Heroic efforts to expose these crimes eventually led to the first great human rights movement of the twentieth century, in which everyone from Mark Twain to the Archbishop of Canterbury participated. King Leopold's Ghost is the haunting account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions, a man as cunning, charming, and cruel as any of the great Shakespearean villains. It is also the deeply moving portrait of those who fought Leopold: a brave handful of missionaries, travelers, and young idealists who went to Africa for work or adventure and unexpectedly found themselves witnesses to a holocaust. Adam Hochschild brings this largely untold story alive with the wit and skill of a Barbara Tuchman. Like her, he knows that history often provides a far richer cast of characters than any novelist could invent. Chief among them is Edmund Morel, a young British shipping agent who went on to lead the international crusade against Leopold. Another hero of this tale, the Irish patriot Roger Casement, ended his life on a London gallows. Two courageous black Americans, George Washington Williams and William Sheppard, risked much to bring evidence of the Congo atrocities to the outside world. Sailing into the middle of the story was a young Congo River steamboat officer named Joseph Conrad. And looming above them all, the duplicitous billionaire King Leopold II. With great power and compassion, King Leopold's Ghost will brand the tragedy of the Congo--too long forgotten--onto the conscience of the West.'

Sounds amazing and terrifying.

So that's a quick update. Still writing, still reading, still planning a trip in January. Still trying to figure this all out.

If anyone has suggestions, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!
I need all the help I can get.

Confederations Cup Round-up

The African Champions League took place this week but we're going to focus instead on the 'little brother' of African continental competitions, the Confederations Cup.

Here's a quick re-cap of this weekend's African Confederations Cup action, thanks to our friends at the BBC.

A Nigerian club coach had to be rescued by police and another quit on a disastrous weekend for the country in the Confederation Cup.

Police smuggled Kwara United coach Kafaru Alabi away from the Township Stadium in the central town of Ilorin as supporters vented their anger at a 1-1 Group B draw with Ismailia of Egypt.

Dolphin were humiliated 6-1 in the same pool away to Al-Merreikh of Sudan, prompting coach Ifeanyi Onyedika to resign while travelling to the team hotel in Khartoum.

CS Sfaxien of Tunisia appear the team to beat in Group A after whipping Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa 4-0 with Ivorian striker Blaise Kouassi scoring twice.

And the deadliest finisher in African club football, Mbuti Mapi from TP Mazembe of the DR Congo, raised his goal tally to 15 by scoring twice in a 2-1 home win over Astres Douala of Cameroon.

Merreikh lead Group B with four points followed by Dolphin (three), Ismailia (two) and Kwara (one) while it is even closer in Group A with Sfaxien (four) just ahead of Mazembe and Sundowns (three each) and Astres have one.

Group winners after the six-round mini-leagues advance to the final and early form suggests Merreikh and Sfaxien could contest the US$300,000 first prize over two legs in November.

Edward Weng gave Kwara a first-half lead only for Mohamed Fadl to level 15 minutes from full-time and although the visitors lacked sacked French coach Patrice Neveu they came close to securing maximum points in a frenetic finish.

When the final whistle sounded police raced to protect Alabi and took him away in a heavily guarded truck as Ilorin once again witnessed the ugly side of African football.

Kwara defeated Mouloudia Alger of Algeria and Union Douala of Cameroon in ill-tempered qualifiers at the Township Stadium with match officials attacked by visiting players.

Former Dolphin stars Endurance Idahor and Efosa Eguakun sparkled as a multi-national Merreikh team guided by Togo 2006 World Cup coach Otto Pfister ran riot in the second half to score three times within five minutes.

After cutting the deficit to 2-1 via a Victor Ezeji header two minutes after half-time, Dolphin had leading scorer Bola Bello sent off for elbowing an opponent.

Merreikh captain and Sudan international Faisal Ajab led the goal charge with two and Mujahid Mohamed, Musa al-Tayeb, Idahor and Mohamed Ali were also on target.

Sundowns did not know what hit them in the Mediterranean city of Sfax with Kouassi scoring after 90 seconds and Blaise Mbele from the DR of Congo adding a second in the eighth minute.

Kouassi took advantage of slack marking to head a third Sfaxien goal with 29 minutes gone and second-half pressure Sundowns was thwarted by goalkeeper Lotfi Saidi before Naby Soumah added the fourth in stoppage time.

Mabi gave Mazembe a first-minute lead in Kinshasa, Amia Ekanga levelled midway thorugh the first half and the prolific Congolese scorer hit the 61st-minute winner.