In Turkana

In Turkana
Showing posts with label World Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Cup. Show all posts

Monday, 14 July 2014

Tick tock, Tick tock...


The Grand Prize is Unveiled

Time seemed to whirl
Only seven minutes remained on the clock. The twelve men, eleven on each side drawn from Argentina and Germany toiled towards glory. Christ the Redeemer; the iconic statue in Rio de Janeiro stood amicably as it has done over many years. Almost as if watching with a knowing smile on the proceedings down below. The game had begun while the sun shone. But now darkness had enveloped the Brazilian skyline while a set of over a billion eyes the world over waited in anticipation for the end of the 32 long day bonanza. The world cup was about to end.

Copacabana Beach staging the Match
Seven minutes remained on the clock. And Facebook was getting updates numbering millions, tweets too were aplenty while short prayers to diverse deities were being made. There were heartbeats racing. Hyperventilation was a global phenomenon and even the most hardened of souls trembled a bit. As no one knew of the outcome. Cities stood still and TV commentators rose to the occasion with frenzied passion.

Argentine fans in Anticipation
Seven minutes remained on the clock. Drama was now ensuring. The lunges and sinister tackles from both the South Americans and the Europeans were now at full throttle. Messi made his tricky runs. Neuer smothered out smoldering shots on goal. Mascherano defended for his life and country while Schweinsteiger acquired a bloodied face. Aguero recalled encouraging words he had gotten earlier that morning from Maradona, his father in law while Ozil prodded towards goal like an Indian flute that charms a cobra out of its dwelling pot.

Ecstatic German fans in Berlin
Seven minutes remained on the clock. The tension in the stadium was now palpable. The over 70,000 fans in the Maracana stadium were going through extreme emotions, even those higher than the annual diurnal temperatures of the Atacama Desert. Those on Copacabana beach forgot of the beauty that Rio offered. Their eyes transfixed on the giant screens, as if held by the charm of a master wizard. The waves breaking ashore from the Atlantic Ocean were now an unwelcome distraction. More beer was poured for the streetside pubs of Berlin to the shanty clubs of Buornes Aires. Bets were placed from the high-rise financial offices of Guangzhou to the neighbourhoods of Nairobi’s eastlands. Cursing words and religious words were on a tremendous rise in usage.

Then Götze happened
Seven minutes remained on the clock. And history was made. For the first time ever in a World Cup Final, two substitutes combined to score the winning goal. That goal here was a solo goal. That goal here equalled the record set at France ’98 when 171 was the final tally of the number of goals scored in the tournament. That goal won Germany the World Cup, 2014 edition. That goal broke the hearts of hundreds of millions. That goal brought indescribable joy to a different set of hundreds of millions. That goal made Mario Gotze the most talked about person the whole world over. That goal was a goal to never be forgotten.

Seven minutes remained and Germany was on its way to a fourth time World Cup triumph. And it did.  "G" is the 7th letter of alphabet, and Germany starts with "G" -The name Germany contains 7 letters -Germany was in Group "G" or Group "7" -Germany ended group stage with 7pts -Germany scored 7 goals in group stages-4 vs Portugal, 2 vs Ghana and 1 vs U.S.A -Germany scored 7 goals vs Brazil -And obviously, we are in 7th month of year and winning goal was scored 7 minutes to end of extra time...what a world cup! 
The Best team in the Tournament Won

Wednesday, 28 March 2012

FOUR TEAMS...ONE FAN (Part 2)

ARSENAL...KENYA...GERMANY...REAL MADRID

21st May, 2005. The day brought with it two immortal memories, the wedding of my friends Caro and Joshu and the F.A Final pitying Manchester United and Arsenal. The game was broadcast live on K.B.C and we were crowded with friends watching the exciting game that ended goalless, even after extra time. The penalty shoot-out was nerve wrecking. Five men from either side were to decide which team I would be a supporter of; though I already had a soft spot for the team in red and white.

All but one scored, a Man-U player called Paul Scholes a.k.a ‘Ginger Prince’ due to his gold hair. He had his kick punched away by the ‘Crazy German’ as he used to be called in Jens Lehmann, Arsenal’s goalkeeper. I was in love and now had the privilege of identifying myself as an Arsenal fan. The bond remains, just grows with each passing game. Arsenal till I die. Period.

But there are other three teams I love you know?

113 in the current FIFA World rankings, mostly terrible but with genuine talent here and there and the occasional win, like the 4-0 over Comoros or the famous 9-0 win over Djibouti that happened over ten years ago! I love the Harambee Star’s, Kenya’s national team due to the fact I am Kenyan and still hope we make it to the World Cup 2014 in Brazil and hopefully win in the final against the hosts. Amen.

La Liga, the Spanish league had me a Barcelona fan since ’02 for the wrong reason until last year when I realized their pretty football, hauls of trophies and rich tradition loses its worth due to the team’s unethical practices such as player diving, player tapping and when they finally lured Super Cesc, Arsenal’s captain and cheated their way to the Champions league did I know I have to jump ship. Still in the honeymoon stage with Real Madrid but liking every single bit and memorable gamesJ

Anytime I play FIFA on play station, I choose Germany for an international game. Reason? I honestly think they are the best in World football but that’s not why I like them. Being with Germans as friends and colleagues was a factor and I took time during the last World Cup in South Africa to finally choose a team to support on the global stage…well, till Kenya wins the World Cup anyway! And it had to be Germany, brilliant skills, awesome talent and they play a style I like…technischen Fußball !

Thanks for reading you wonderful people. I remain, Njabia the 3rd.

Friday, 23 March 2012

FOUR TEAMS, ONE FAN...(Part 1)


I love football. It was not always like that. The first time our family owned a television set was way back in 1998, the year France hosted and won the World cup. I was around a decade old but my least concern was football. I remember not leaving our house entirely due to the T.V, watching shows as boring as ‘Good Morning Kenya’ and ‘Dunia Wiki Hii’ with my small sister and as the two suggest, K.B.C was the only station we had access to!

But then the World Cup began and it was time to leave the house…that is how much I hated football. Fast forward and Japan with South Korea are the World Cup hosts in 2002. Three factors got me hooked to the beautiful game; a certain Brazilian with a unique hairstyle called Ronaldo, Kilosh, a neighbor who used to pin all the football pictures from the dailies in a blank book and my school mates who already were in tune with the English Premier League.

If it was not for my strict mum, I would also have gotten the ‘Ronaldo’ hair style like almost all boys my age. He really was the best footballer of his generation and his record speaks for itself. Period. I always wanted to be opposites with Kilosh and so when he started fancying Real-Madrid, I decided to be a Barcelona fan. But the biggest influence was listening to my classmates discuss, argue and boast of teams like man-U and Arsenal. That made me curious for I wanted to be part of the ‘pundits’.

For the next three years, I faced a football ‘identity crisis’ when I knew not where to pledge my allegiance to. The aforementioned Kilosh tried all tact to convert me into a Man-United fan but I was not convinced and so when Arsenal booked an F.A Cup final with them on 21st May 2005, I decided that was the D-day. I was finally gonna choose which among the two English soccer giants to pledge my allegiance to…

Wonderful people, have a great weekend. Till next time, I remain Njabia the 3rd.


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