African Cup Soccer Qualifying

Today (Saturday) saw the boys of KCM attend the African Cup Qualifying match between Uganda and Zambia.

I don't think I've ever been a part of a crowd as vocal and fanatical as I was today. In addition to this, I don't think I've ever seen as many police (including riot police) in one place at any one time. It certainly helped give a sense of order and security.

Four hours of electric atmosphere (including pre game routines and entertainment) came down to a penalty shoot out and ultimately one kick. Sadly about 50,000 Ugandan fans walked away absolutely devastated. Uganda actually played the better of the two teams (and won the game) but due to the fact that they lost their earlier game against Zambia (in Zambia) the points for and against were actually level and the outcome needed to be decided by a penalty shoot out.

The final score in the penalty shoot out was 9-8 to Zambia.

We sat in the general admission section of Mandela National Stadium. The fans were very passionate, very loud and I think every one of them was wearing a Uganda Cranes Jersey, either yellow, red or black (the colours of the Ugandan flag).

When the soccer ball came into the attacking half of the field (which was the case probably 65% of the game, the crowd cheered. When the ball came within 25 meters of the goal and it looked like they might score, the crowd collectively held their breath. When the Ugandan Cranes actually scored a goal the crowd rose to their feet and made such a loud noise that I stuck a finger in my ears. People were dancing around and blowing horns and whistles and picking up the person beside them. The emotion was raw and spontaneous. When the team lost the penalty shoot out the crowd was silenced and collectively stood up and walked out of the stadium. The mood was very heavy.

Interestingly there were a few scuffles as we walked down to where we caught our Borda-Borda. As I walked, I kept a very close eye on Sam, from the KCM team. He told me that the scuffles were between those pick pocketing and those with something to pick pocket. It was fascinating to see how the crowd worked together to catch the thief and notify the police where he was.

Our trip home on the Borda-Borda was a little slow because we had three passengers riding with the driver.