Tumu in World Cup frenzy...
I won’t go on about the world cup as you all know the score! But I will say the atmosphere here in Ghana was magical… even in a small remote town like Tumu, World Cup fever was amazing. From the first game, losing to Italy they didn’t look at as a defeat but as a challenge, of course there was the usual blaming of players but still the party season had started. The students at my college must have watched every game shown, and there were a couple who kept my score sheet up to date, I only watched the England and Ghana games and kept up with the news from Bukari the Headmaster and the students. Now I am not just “Folie” but “Folie where are you from?”. My usual answer would be UK but now it’s England as we then have a football conversation. They couldn’t quite understand to start with why I have been supporting Ghana but towards the last games its total comradeship! Watching the matches was fun in it self! Except when GTV had no signal, or the signal was so bad you couldn’t make out the players in the snow storm, we would then watch the Burkina Faso channel; commentary is just not the same in French. Then we could have lights off at a crucial moment. Wa lost power for the last 60 minutes of the last England game, only to regain it just when we missed the final penalty!! – Pete was not happy…
The Ghana, USA game was a great one to watch. Bukari invited me to his house to watch. The first goal Ghana scored Bukari practically kissed the TV has was so excited, his children thought he had gone a bit mad. The commentators didn’t even hide the fact that they were going to be biased towards Ghana, and then the station played the Ghana world cup song each time they scored. After the game as I went home through town, there were people out on the streets waving flags, blowing whistles and dancing, - just like home!
Before the last Ghana game I had been having a conversation with Ali who I met through Brianne, about the world cup and the best place to watch a game. I had been to various places, but wanted to watch the next game in a busy place. He suggested St Augustine’s a local drinking spot with a TV!. He said he would organise the TV to be moved into the large area so we would be able to watch it more comfortably. In the end there were about 25 people watching the game, the atmosphere was something else. Because of the usual tin roof the room had a loud echo, and as the game progressed the noise and cheering in the room was so loud you would have thought you were in the stadium. Unfortunately the game didn’t bode so well for Ghana, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell, it didn’t matter – they had got to the last 16 and that was good enough for now – next time watch out!!
I didn’t think there were any bad feelings towards Brazil; being beaten the number one team is not a bad thing. However, when the Brazil v France game was on, there was the loudest cheer ever when France won.
The Ghana, USA game was a great one to watch. Bukari invited me to his house to watch. The first goal Ghana scored Bukari practically kissed the TV has was so excited, his children thought he had gone a bit mad. The commentators didn’t even hide the fact that they were going to be biased towards Ghana, and then the station played the Ghana world cup song each time they scored. After the game as I went home through town, there were people out on the streets waving flags, blowing whistles and dancing, - just like home!
Before the last Ghana game I had been having a conversation with Ali who I met through Brianne, about the world cup and the best place to watch a game. I had been to various places, but wanted to watch the next game in a busy place. He suggested St Augustine’s a local drinking spot with a TV!. He said he would organise the TV to be moved into the large area so we would be able to watch it more comfortably. In the end there were about 25 people watching the game, the atmosphere was something else. Because of the usual tin roof the room had a loud echo, and as the game progressed the noise and cheering in the room was so loud you would have thought you were in the stadium. Unfortunately the game didn’t bode so well for Ghana, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell, it didn’t matter – they had got to the last 16 and that was good enough for now – next time watch out!!
I didn’t think there were any bad feelings towards Brazil; being beaten the number one team is not a bad thing. However, when the Brazil v France game was on, there was the loudest cheer ever when France won.
posted by Lucy at 3:05 pm
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