One of the most frustrating things of 2008 for me thus far has been the African Cup of Nations.
It's not the tournament itself or the results or anything. It's the mere fact that I can't follow the action! I'd love to be able to watch tournament games, even if they are on delay, but I can't. As a soccer fan, it's very irritating to say the least. There is a grand soccer event going on halfway around the world and it may as well be on another planet.
Anyway, I know this happened days ago but Nigeria and Ivory Coast played in one of the best matchups of the tournament. It was the group stage opener for both, and Ivory Coast won it 1-0. Nigeria went on to draw Mali 0-0 while Ivory Coast thumped Benin 4-1 and are through to the quarters.
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It's not only African soccer that's in the "dark", but Africa in general. My daughter is in the midst of a two year stint in Togo, West Africa so I can tell you there is pretty much zero coverage of anything African in this country, i.e. the first democratic Parlimentary elections in several decades in Togo this past fall went essentially unreported here.
Interestingly, the obverse seems also true. This past summer, there was a helicopter crash in Sierre Leone that killed a group of soccer fans and the Togo Minister of Sport. In the end, I was able to provide more detail (off internet sources, frankly) on that crash to my daughter than she was able to get from local "coverage", even though Sierre Leone is essentially Togo's neighbor. She tells me, though, that The Cup does get pretty good coverage locally, as Africa, like much of the rest of the world, is soccer mad.
Thanks, BTW, for the YouTube shots: some very pretty play. Given the current connection, I'd love to be able to see some of these games, too. MLS ought to scout there, probably some some pretty affordable talent available there which would spice up the league.
Luis,
The ACN is getting coverage (live, I believe) on ART (the Arabic channel). Not sure if you guys get that in LA, but try checking it out!
Dude...Sopcast, TVAnts, PPLive, etc.
Our local soccer pub, The Globe Pub (Chicago), is showing every match live as they did two years ago. However, this year they have to charge a fee - last time it was free. Still, they are getting fans to watch the matches. My brother in law is Egyptian and he tells me that a lot of the new Egyptian restaurants in the area are carrying the matches as well.
Great atmosphere at the Globe last time around, hope to see the same this time.
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