World Cup Madness!

Ghana is a HUGE football (soccer) country. They love the sport and take it very seriously. Soccer pitches are ubiquitous. Now, when I say soccer pitch, I don’t mean a field with freshly cut grass. Here, a majority of the fields are not fields at all, and more of a cleared space of dirt or dust on which kids and teens can place a couple of nets and a ball and play. Unfortunately, sports here are more of a male-dominated aspect of life, but soccer is still an important facet of Ghanaian life nonetheless.

The excitement about the World Cup in Ghana started about 7-8 months ago, when Ghana beat Egypt to qualify for the Cup. This sparked the excitement and anxiety for the start of the World Cup, in which Ghana would be competing. This was the first time I would be in a country where their main sport is football for the World Cup. Of course, my family and I were incredibly excited! As it got closer and closer to the start of the World Cup commercials on the TV became more Black Stars (the Ghanaian team) and football related, Ghanaian flags began to pop up on shops and cars throughout the country, and the general feeling of hope for the team began to rise.

The first game of the World Cup that Ghana played in is one that I will never forget. They were set to play the US (how ironic), a team that they had beaten twice previously in other World Cups. My family and I were rooting for Ghana and the US, but would’ve liked to see Ghana win the match. There were high expectations for the Black Stars, but most Ghanaians had no doubt that they would win, easily. The time finally came for the match. My family and I had traveled to a city in Ghana called Kumasi by plane earlier in the day, and were settled in the hotel to watch the match. It was a tense 90 or so minutes to say the least. The US came out strong with an insane less-than-a-minute goal scored by Captain Clint Dempsey. This weakened Ghanaian resolve as they desperately tried to equalize. They were able to, to the relief of every fan in Ghana. The game ended up going into a couple minutes of injury time with a second US goal, and those few minutes of injury time were some of the most heart-attack inducing of my life. Ghana just needed to equalize to gain a point but, in the end, weren’t able to. It was a devastating 2-1 loss for Ghana, but an incredible achievement for the US.

I finally got a taste of watching Ghana play among Ghanaians during their next game against Germany, which they tied 2-2. We decided to venture out to a favorite roadside spot which sold drinks and showed World Cup matches on a giant screen with a projector. This was probably the best choice ever. A ton of Ghanaians turned up and created this awesome, thrilled, revved up atmosphere that made watching the game 10 times more exciting.

Let me help you understand exactly what it’s like watching a Ghanaian World Cup game with Ghanaians. CRAZY. Ghanaian football fans LOVE to shout “PENALTY!” a n y t i m e the ball comes anywhere near the penalty box. They also love to yell “GOAL GOAL GOAL!!!” anytime there is even a run made towards the goal. And when there is a goal scored, especially a Ghana goal? Say goodbye to your functioning ear drums because the Ghanaians LOVE to cheer/scream/yell and celebrate like they’ve achieved world domination and not only kicked a ball into a net. The game was probably the most fun I have had in a long time and it felt so great to be right there cheering along with all of the passionate fans.

The fact that the Black Stars were able to tie the machine that is the German team was an incredible accomplishment and, although they did not make it past the group stage, many Ghanaians are extremely proud of how their boys played in the Cup. Watching the Cup in a country where soccer was their number one sport was incredible. The fact that Ghana was also contending made it an amazing experience that I will not forget.