Tag: football

Salam out there, hope this post finds you doing well:)

” Make sure your life is full of I cant believe I did it instead of I wish I did”.

I don’t know the author of this quote but I came across it while I was debating going to watch the game at a popular Dakarois restaurant I had never been to..Coming across it, definitely encouraged me to take my daughter and I on a football date..mind you, I have not watched yet in its entirety any of the WC games..only clips and it was enough for me, watching all of these people travel to the USA under these complicated and unwelcoming conditions but while there enjoying themselves has been really cool..watching the video reactions of some Americans who had no real knowledge of the global football culture was amusing. It truly was the big “American sleepover” as they call it.I have enjoyed watching the Norwegian and Scottish fans bringing their culture and their enthusiasm to jaded Americans.

I also felt bad for the Iranian players having to travel back and forth from Mexico to the USA on game days. It has also been a joy to watch the Senegalese and Ivoirian fans welcoming the soccer teams at the various airports ,loved the reactions of the world to the Congolese team who represented for the legendary Congolese sapologie and also brought heart and talent to this International event . From this WC ,I will remenber the tenacity of the Cap Verdian team, and the sense of fun the team of Curacao brought..

I will also remember our Senegalese team working hard but having a very difficult time…their parcours at this WC has not been easy with polemiques and unfortunate results…let’s just say these were not the glorious days of the CAN yet no one can say that they did not deserve their spot there…My daughter and I started our mother & daughter date first at @chiktayafrica (on Instagram) where we enjoyed some crepes salées and watched the end of the Congo/ England game…I really hoped they would have won ..it’s always a little weird when you watch an all full African team competing with an European team with African players..there is nothing wrong with it per say..I just imagine when they win the complexity of feelings they must feel .from joy to compassion and maybe a bit of guilt for winning against their “brothers” …anyways it was a good game… We chilled there a little bit before walking across the road to go to our final destination the restaurant Exotic Beach to watch the Senegalese team.

A la porte , it was already a vibe a friendly bouncer told me that it was 10 000 francs CFA /person to watch the game with a free homemade cocktail..I already knew that because I had called the day before. We had the choice to pick our seats at this beach restaurant….des fauteuils des petites tables..they were smart and I am sure they made “good money” that day. In the crowd were young French Senegalese men on vacation smoking hookak chasing stress away… men coming from work ..there to enjoy the game with their friends, young shy hijabi girls who probably just like us had seen an ad for this collective viewing experience online.There were also young charming young mothers with their little kids, you could tell they took their time to pick their outfits, put on their makeup and dress their children.I imagine the mental gymanistics it takes to be present feel pretty and still deal with early motherhood.

Les maillots du Senegal were on full display: vert jaune rouge just like those good old CAN days..My lil one who is not used to smokey environments kept mentioning here and there the heavy smoke…yako! We ordered some food, I had a delicious “poulet moyo” with des alocos..African style and she had a delicious tiramisu…At first we really thought we were going to to win, Senegal quickly score, 1 goal and another 1 goal…the Belgian team seemed defeated..people in the restaurant were cheering dancing, the music was on ” Charger , charger” lol ..bref we really thought we got this…unfortunately we lost…people are blaming the coach of course, there were some huge technical errors…ect..of course people are very angry and disappointed.

Ce que j’en retiens c’est que there is real potential, talent, grit and that in 4 years we will better prepared InshAllah. My little one who watches soccer games with her grandfather who is a die hard football fan felt disenchanted…but I guess because it was a festive environment she didn’t cry, but on our way home I could tell the emotions were catching up with her.It took us some time to get home, lots of traffic ..I suppose many people had the same idea as us and went to watch the game at various restaurants near by..En tout cas… overall it was a cool experience to be all united by our citoyenneté and sense of hope..:)

‘Till next time InshAllah..

Yaye