Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Le foot, c'est moi!

This weekend, Guinea's national soccer team stunned Algeria by 2 goals to 0 in an African Nations Cup qualifier in Algiers. Guinea is virtually unbeatable in competitive matches at home, but their form has always been shaky away, particularly in North Africa.

The result was all the more surprising because, only a few days earlier, #1 goalkeeper Kémoko Camara quit the Syli national after being accused of exagerrating an injury. This led national team boss Robert Nouzaret to declare that the Guineans had 'no chance' against Algeria.

After the shock win, which put the Syli on top of their qualifying group, residents of the capital Conakry descended into the streets to celebrate. Ailing head of state Gen. Lansana Conté seized the opportunity to leave for a bit his hermetic existence to 'bathe in the crowd,' as Guinéenews elegantly put it.

Interesting that Gen 'Man of the People' Conté never decided to 'bathe in the crowd' during the contentious general strike earlier this year during which over 100 people were gunned down by insecurity forces.

Labels: , , ,

2 Comments:

At 2:00 PM, Blogger Ceek said...

A great headline and story. It's a great win for Syli National--too bad Conté tried to seize upon the victory for his own ends, especially after his provocative comments marginalizing the impact of Guinea's popular protests to TV5.

 
At 2:04 PM, Blogger Brian said...

Indeed.

In case any other readers are curious, the story Bantara is referring to can be found at various media outlets including here:

http://friendsofguinea.blogspot.com/2007/06/guinean-news-cont-i-am-boss.html

 

Post a Comment

<< Home