Retired Maradona still a very big attraction
Minutes after the Argentina-Iran match kicked off on Sunday, fans appeared to be caught up in a stampede behind the technical bench of the Pumas.
Something was happening there, only it was not a stampede.
The big man, Diego Armando Maradona, was taking his seat.
He may polarize opinion but no individual in world football is as revered as Argentina’s 1986 World Cup winning captain. Journalists in the media tribune and fans all around him reached for their smart phones to take a picture of him.
On the road for 60 hours just to watch a match
It is not only fans in East Africa struggling to watch the World Cup given the huge time differences between Brazil and Africa. Watching matches in Brazil for fans is also a daunting thing.
Because of the vastness of the country, fans can spend upto 48 to 60 hours in transit to reach a match venue.
And then there is the return trip! What that means is sleeping on long bus rides and spending hours at bus stations. Brazil’s admirable bus transport system is helping World Cup fans.
But the country could do with train transport.
Yours truly passes as African football expert
I am not a connoisseur on African football, but on Saturday I fielded a couple of questions on the problems holding back African football in regard to the poor showing of the continent’s five representatives in Brazil.
That was prior to Nigeria’s significant victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ghana’s creditable stalemate with Germany. It’s a journalist’s curse I am happy to suffer.
I gave the world-acclaimed Guillem Balague strong views on the African issues only for Nigeria and Ghana to perform well.
As it is, it is still possible Africa to have three sides in the next round.
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