CAN 2012

In the past month I had a lot of work, since my colleague have been on a vacation. Didn't go anywhere, spent my free time relaxing, watching movies.

Equatorial Guinea, together with Gabon, is a host of this year's Cup of African Nations (CAN). When I read that information in Novi Sad, I set my mind on going to at least one match - it is, after all, once in a lifetime opportunity. I did not know how difficult it would be to put my plan into action...

CAN started on the 21st of January. The matches in Bata, the only place where I could see a match, were to be held on five occasions, one of witch was the opening clash between EG and Lybia. I still haven't received my permanent residence, so the risk of going out of camp is still high (it's not that something horrible is going to happen to me, but they can lock me up and make me pay a lot of money). In addition to that, we worked till 6 PM the day of the opening, so I couldn't go to this one.

Several days before the beginning of the CAN everybody was talking about it. These guys really don't have a respectable team, they have never qualified for the championship before and were the lowest ranked team who played in the final stage, so we didn't believe they would pose a threat to any team. But the folks were optimistic, they've had fate and trusted their team. The opening match showed us poor football, a lack of organized plays and a surprising victory of Nzalang (that's the nickname of the national football team of Equatorial Guinea, meaning thunder). The people were ecstatic. Everybody was retelling the story of the fantastic match in the days that followed. 

The next match in Bata was Nzalang against Senegal, firm favorites in that group. It was in mid-week, so it was out of bounds for me. The rain postponed the matches for almost two hours. Incredible last minute victory qualified Nzalang for quarterfinals and put the idea of wining the trophy in heads of all Guineanos. The third match in Bata was on Sunday, 29th and it was Senegal-Lybia - missed this one too. Nzalag played their last match in capital Malabo, lost, so ended second in the group and were to play Ivory Coast in Malabo, too. Unfortunately for me, that meant I wouldn't be able to watch them play. Only two games left to be played in Bata - and I had a chance only to watch the quarterfinals (it was on Saturday and I worked till noon). The problem was that, despite sending positive thoughts, my my ID still hasn't arrived. I was in despair. Another "great" thing was that the board of the directors banned economists to go to Bata on weekends, except with the written permission of the director of the camp and the approval of the board (so I'm officially in a prison from that day). After a few days of going through pros and cons of me leaving for Bata, I decided to give it a try - you only live once and who know if the chance like that would ever again arise. 

Found the car, found the company, got the permission and  organized the tickets and a place to stay - it was all set. We had to go through at least five police road blocks in each direction, plus the random raids in Bata. I was the only one without the valid documents, so I equipped ourselves with Fanta, water and a small bills in case someone ask for IDs. The trip to Bata went pretty smoothly, only one guy asked us for a refreshment ;), so we got there and were really hipped. The feeling of being in the city, doing something different, something you wanted soooo much was amazing. 

We left our stuff and headed to the stadium. Some fifteen people from the company came to the game. We all knew that the attendance was going to be low, but I didn't mind. I just knew that I'm gonna watch the CAN match live and everything else was irrelevant. The stadium itself was a newly-built complex, completed for this purpose and a lot of European club can look at in with envy. 

As expected, less than 3000 spectators (my observation) showed up so the stadium was empty. The game was Zambia vs. Sudan. The prior were favorites and had about 20 supporters on the stands. The later had a larger group of supporter, 150, and were located on the south stand where they hanged their flags. When the game started, they weren't there, but later on they organized and started beating the drums and chanting song in their native language. A small group of Marocans  near me also supported Sudan, I joined them.

Zambia fans

Sudan fans

At the half-time, we changed the stand in hope of the TV camera catching us (don't know if the plan succeeded). Despite seeing three goals in Sudan's net, the game was not so interesting. But the experience of watching them celebrate goals, fans chanting and dancing and the atmosphere in general was priceless. I'm sure gonna remember that day and retell the story for the rest of my life.

Serbians

After the match, we went to eat something - first fast-food since coming here ;), and then watched Nzalag game (they lost as expected, despite the help from the sorcerer who was supposed to summon the rain). That was the end of the dream for the hosts of CAN.

     

   

The thing that fascinated me over and over again is that I was again in the city during the night - I saw street lights, I heard traffic, it was amazing I kept smiling the whole time. People need to learn to appreciate the little things in life. On our way back to the flat, the police stopped us in the street raid. I was prepared to give a large sum of money, just not to spend a night in jail. Luckily, we were all surprised by the kindness of the officer - he saw that I recently got here and said I should carry my passport (not the copy) and let us go. I was incredibly lucky that night. 
I felt asleep with the sound of the cars coming from the street next to the building (yes, the building, oh what a joy...kill me for being a city kid).



The next day was awesome, too.