The game started at 3 but we arrived late at the stadium. It seems that any time you travel with 7 or 8 people there are always some delays and today was no exception. As we walked closer to the stadium, it was evident that there were still crowds lined up for tickets to the Accra vs. Kotoko game.
Francis (our CFO) went in search for tickets as the group of 7 of us stood waiting. Even outside the stadium, the place was abuzz with soccer fans dancing and cheering. Vendors were selling hats, and t-shirts from each of the teams
 |
| Even outside the stadium the crowds were wild |
We stood waiting for quite a while as the game went on inside without us. We waited and waited and drew more that a few stares. There was still no sign of Francis when a man approached us asking if we wanted tickets. The man was a large, imposing figure dressed in army fatigues. He had the oddest chairs around his neck - not decorative chains but heavier gauge steel chains. An odd fashion statement, I thought. Must be a scalper with an odd fashion sense. So we thought.
He wanted 10 cedis for a 3 cedi ticket but at this point it seemed well worth the extra charge. Francis paid the man and went off with him, again in search of tickets. The game played on inside. Twenty minutes later (we were almost ready to give up and leave), they came with the tickets and we proceeded to go to the gate to enter the stadium.
At the stadium entrance, utter pandemonium started with shoving and pushing by the crowd of people swarming us trying to get into the stadium gate with us. Our group of seven were hanging on to each other and we could feel people pushing up against us, almost knocking us over. At one point I asked my friend Kerstin if those were her hands on my back and neck....nope. I broke my gold chain in a struggling match with the man behind me who was trying to pull it off me…Denis’s side pocket of his leg of his shorts was undone and someone was grabbing at his wallet. Everyone could feel hand all over them. The guys in the group got a bit intense yelled to leave us girls alone.
Suddenly the crowd started pushing us backwards away from the gate knocking us down the steps. While we didn’t realize it at the time, we soon learned what the guy in the army jump suit did with his chains…he was having no luck clearing the crowd for us to pass, so he started swinging the chains at the crowd around to clear a small enough path for us to get through. We were literally pulled through the steel gates one by one by the security teams and once on the other side, were sent on our merry way by GI Joe. We all paused on the other side, in shock, wondering what the hell just happened. Seems like the little extra we had to pay army fatigue man was well worth it!
Inside the stadium, we found some 2nd row seats. We were very late so we thought we were lucky to find enough seats together. Turns out that it was hard to see the game for all the dancers that kept going by and blocking our view. Francis informed us that we could not buy beer at the game because Ghanaian soccer fans were too crazy for that. Crazy!!
 |
| The Ghana 6 members wearing the colours of the local Accra team |
At one point in the game, a barely clothed your man jumped up on the seat in front of us and treated June, our Chinese team member to what we have come to call her "lap dance" He moved suggestively in front of her and tried to kiss her. No one quite knew what to do. The young man…with nothing on but his pants…which barely covered the poor lad, continued to entertain June for a few moments dancing and shaking before he bounced down out of the stands and ran off to entertain his next victim.
In the end, the visiting team one and the home team went scoreless.
 |
| Victory lap by the winning team |
 |
| Wild and crazy |
Being from Canada I can only day that I have never experienced soccer fans so, shall we say, passionate about the game. Denis (Brazil), Jorge (Mexico) and Kerstin(Germany) had never seen anything like it either, except perhaps at a world cup game.
We found a local pub with a large wide screen TV, showing another soccer game, for a few beer and yam chips to end another game in Ghana
No comments:
Post a Comment