FIFA, here I come! - Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng writes
For as long as I can remember, I have not been particularly enthused by the spectacle of 22 men (and these days, women too!) kicking about a piece of inflated leather for 90 minutes whilst seemingly possessed spectators collectively scream from the stands, yelp in excitement or moan in despair in varying degrees.
Despite the best efforts of friends and my three younger football-loving brothers, I still do not get the offside rule. I have stopped trying. Maybe some things are just not meant to be.
Back in the 1970s, my father was the chairman of the Prestea Mine Stars Football Club, and even though I would dutifully follow him to the park on match days, my mind would be elsewhere.
To date, I struggle to understand how some people refuse food after their football club has lost a match, especially when it is a European club, with the action taking place thousands of miles away.
Football religion
But then, to each their own. For many fans, football is indeed a religion, as the legendary footballer Pele once asserted.
I get it, despite my fascination with the obsession.
I get the thousands of armchair coaches that spring to life to share their opinion about a coach’s team selection and match strategy.
I smile at the heated arguments between football fans until veins pop up on their foreheads and on their necks.
I really do get the passion.
When major international tournaments come by, I do make an effort to watch the games, especially where Ghana is involved, purely for patriotic reasons.
As they say, if you cannot beat them, join them.
The noise can be fun, even if observed from a safe distance.
So I vividly recall, as a young undergraduate at the University of Ghana, watching the 1992 African Cup final between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
I remember our 2010 World Cup matches, including the famous Asamoah Gyan penalty miss and the Suarez pain.
I remember joining in the carnival atmosphere at the Ministry of Energy back in 2022 to watch Ghana’s match against Portugal.
Of course, I can mention a few Ghanaian and international football stars.
Maybe I am not that terrible after all when it comes to football.
2026 Tournament
By kind courtesy of a good friend, I am off to the USA this week to soak up some World Cup energy.
Sadly, we will miss our opening match in Canada with Panama. But we intend to attend our group stage matches with England and Croatia.
When I told my younger brother, David, about my travel plans, he peskily shot back, “hold on ooo, wetin concern you for football world cup?”
I could literally feel green juices of envy literally seeping through his pores, at the seeming injustice of a football ignoramus going for the World Cup, whilst he, an avid Arsenal fan, is stuck somewhere in Accra, watching the action from TV screens and drinking beer whilst arguing. But then who said the world was fair?
David cheekily proceeded to ask me to explain the offside rule, and then I could be on my way, as if one needs to pass a football interview before being allowed to watch FIFA matches.
Of course, I ignored him, but we both agreed that at the very least, once the ‘true fans’ shout ‘goal!!’, I could take a cue and shout the same.
irony of it all is that Ghana’s match with England will be played on Tuesday, June 23, which is exactly 11 years since my father died.
I wonder what he would make of my foray into football if he were alive. It is also David’s birthday.
A friend reckoned I was lucky I was not travelling at a time when my political party was in power, because certainly it would have been projected as chasing my fantasies with public money at a time when our schools and hospitals needed critical infrastructural support, even if I was funding the trip from my own sweat.
That is so true. I suppose these are the little mercies and reliefs being in opposition brings…
Fun and drama
Of course, the technical aspects of the tournament matches do not interest me - all those are way above my pay grade.
My focus is on the fun and drama aspects of it all. I have not been able to secure a jersey that fits my ample frame comfortably, but that should not stop me from acquiring a whistle, a vuvuzela, a talking drum, a hat or any other item that boldly screams ‘Ghana’.
So far, the tournament has yielded its own quirky bits - from the refusal by the US authorities to allow Somali referee Omar Artan into the country to officiate matches to Ghanaian footballer Thomas Partey being refused a visa to travel to Canada for our opening match against Panama on Wednesday, each generating a series of divergent opinions and heated arguments in their own right.
On a personal score, like many Ghanaians, I have enjoyed cheering Mexico to the detriment of South Africa’s Bafana Bafana team for obvious reasons. Solidarity is not a carte blanche affair, and I am looking forward to their other group matches so that I can wear my ‘against’ cap and cheer South Korea and the Czech Republic.
‘Jama skills’
I do not know which teams have been tipped to carry the cup. Indeed, it was only when the travel opportunity came my way that I did some research to find out which other countries were in Ghana’s group and where/when the matches would be played. But man shall not live by football alone.
One must find time to have some fun, do some sightseeing, catch up with old friends and unwind.
I am certainly looking forward to the World Cup, particularly Ghana’s matches.
It will be great fun, and I am already practising my ‘jama’ skills.
One day, I can look back and say of the 2026 tournament, ‘I was there some’, as they say on the streets.
Who knows? If I get the hang of it and manage to find a generous benefactor, I may turn up at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, USA, and/or the 2030 World Cup to be hosted jointly by Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
As they say in Latin, ‘Dum Spiro, Spero’ (while I breathe, I hope).
I do hope our boys travel far, but as many Ghanaians would tell you, managing expectations is a good insurance policy when it comes to the Black Stars. After all, hope does not cook yam.
Dear reader, if you do watch Ghana’s matches, look out for me in the stands. I will be waving vigorously at you - yes, you - with my miniature Ghana flag fluttering in the breeze.
Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng.
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