Welcome to Accra
Why does one travel? Is it because we reject the ideas of an ordered world and seek something more chaotic, something less within our own control?
There may be long queues at Gatwick, but the flight to Accra is uneventful. Apart from an aircraft with the word Ghana painted on the side, but the logo of Icelandair painted on the tail and wing fins, and that they have to play the film soundtrack on the public address (no headphones), Ghana International is not really any different to any other airline.
Even Accra airport will not immediately stick in the mind we passed through customs quickly, and then waited for our luggage. We wanted to check a reservation with an internal airline, which meant a trip from the International to the Domestic terminal and back. We picked up two unwanted guides, who were less than satisfied when we only reluctantly offered a 5 Cedi (£2.50) tip. They were trying to guide us to their choice of taxi, when our hotel had sent a car to pick us up. Or at least we thought they had. When we found the hotel driver, he was holding up the name of another passenger, coming in on another airline. We high-jacked him anyway and got down to the hotel, finding out that he was due to take the other passenger first and then pick us later, as the hotel had a two hour error in the time they were expecting our flight to arrive.
On of the complaints we had heard in advance was that there was a shortage of hotels in the city, leading to a big hike in room rates. To be honest, my hotel would not have deserved the two star rating, and US$66 per night that it normally charged even if it had been placed in the centre of one of Europes more expensive cities. At US$90 during the tournament, it was a real rip off and yet it was doing better than most.
We picked up the details of the opening game at the airport, the number of visible staff were less than one might expect but after we had waited ten minutes for our luggage, we heard a cheer from various offices around the areas perimeter Junior Agogo had won a dubious penalty for the hosts, and they had gone one up. This did not last, but a late goal by Muntari restored the home advantage allowing them to start with a win. The result, when we reached the city centre was a fever pitch of celebration. Cars and bands of supporters would make their way, creating as much noise as possible. Friends coming off a later flight were staying in another part of town, and our taxi to meet them managed to co-incidentally arrive at exactly same time. A beer was had in the hotel, and then a walk up and down the local drag, past a number of other bars, and nightclubs. As we walked along the road, a few of the locals greeted us, while one young girl attached herself rather strongly to me. Not only did she follow us right back to the hotel, but suddenly as we sat down in the bar, more young ladies appeared from nowhere. My friend from West Bromwich immediately took fright and ran off to his room. Once it was clear there was no profits to be made from our party, our friends did disappear, but we did get more offers while we tried to negotiate the taxi back to our own hotel.
It took the full morning of the following day to sort out my accreditation. Apparently in order to reduce the chaos that the system had suffered from on the first couple of days, it was necessary to send everyone from the accreditation centre to a hotel in a different part of the city, and then back again before a pass could be issued. The pass only allows one to get to the stadium media centre to apply for the daily match ticket!
Completely full to see the hosts and the opening ceremony, only a few hundred had ventured out for Namibia v Morocco, allowing a clear view of the two tiers of seats in this modern stadium, refurbished specially for the tournament. Although bright and sunny, the Ohene Djan Stadium lies only a short distance from the shore, and a cooling breeze meant that we did not feel the full force of the mid afternoon temperatures. The two ovals of seats with large curves behind the goals gives a very spacious feel to the stadium, and even though there is no track, the lower seats at the ends will provide poor views of the action. Not surprisingly, these seats were not in use in this low crowd. AN unusual feature is the holes, apparently cut out of the upper tier to allow the four tall floodlight pylons to rise from anchor points below the lower tiers. The uneven size of the holes convinces one that they were the quick answer to an unplanned problem for the architect. Only one side of the ground has any cover, – a high cantilever stand in steel. There is a slightly curious net curtain affair below this, which I would guess is provided to try and persuade birds from nesting among the steel beams, or at least if they do, to protect the seats below from the evidence. In contrast to the bright colours of the stand, the pitch was a very uneven mixtures of light greens and browns that did nothing to hide and uneven bounce.
Morocco started in 4-4-2 formation, although they showed a degree of flexibility up front only Bordeauxs Maroane Chamakh was committed full to the attack, his partner could be either Youssef Hadji (Nancy) or Soufienne Alloudi (Al-Ain, UAE), with the other moving out to the right wing. Four of the Moroccan squad play in the French League, two in UAE, the goalkeeper is local with Raja Casablanca, while the Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Portuguese leagues are represented. Youssef Safri of Southampton is the only man on the pitch that plays in England. The Namibians on the other had rely mainly on their own league, which provides four players, and the South African, which adds another four Oliver Risser is unattached leaving only Norman Jacobs (Bryne, Norway) and Collin Benjamin (SV Hamburg) playing in Europe. They adopted a 4-1-4-1 formation which soon proved inefficient at holding back some quick Moroccan attacks.
In the second minute, Chamakh raced through the defence and although his shot hit the post, he reacted quickest and passed square to give Alloudi a tap in. Alloudi was on hand in the fifth minute, just beating the goalkeeper to the ball and doubling the lead. To their credit, Namibia did not collapse completely after this double set back, and even gained a little of the ball still it was against the run of play when Brain Brendall cut in the right wing and unleashed an unstoppable shot to bring them back in the game at 2-1. This did not last long though five minutes later Tarek Sektioui, crossed from the left wing, and Alloudi was unmarked to head in at the far post.
The noise in the ground was provided not by supporters of either side, but by a group of about 200 home supporters, almost in a uniform of bright yellow shirts, a mixture of brass band, and dancing provided the colour. The only Moroccan supporters I could see were a small number who ran back and forth with a giant flag whenever they scored, while less than 100 from Namibia were trying not to look dispirited in the far corner. They had little reason for hope, as every Morocco attack seemed like a goal opportunity. In the 38th minute, the Nantes full back overlapped and was fouled (but only very gently) and giving Sektioui the right to increase the score to 4-1 from the penalty spot.
The second half started a little scrappily with the injury milk float twice called into action. Alloudi being the victim of Namibias indiscretions. Namibia brought on Abraham Shatimuene at half time, allowing them to re-organise the defence (without any obvious effect, other than meaning the Angolan league was now represented). For Morocco, Youusef Mikhtari who now plays for Al-Rayan in Qatar replaced the injured Alloudi on the hour mark. The pattern continued with Namibia defending somewhat desperately, and building up a collection of yellow cards, Morocco were dominating the play, but not actually producing many credible chances. Set pieces seemed to be the best opportunity, and this was proved in the 73rd minute when a corner was delivered deep to newly arrived substitute Monsef Zerka (who had replaced his Nancy team mate, Youssef Hadji) to head in number 5. Both sides pushed forward in the last fifteen minutes, but the match had one out of steam. Morocco settling for this very comfortable start, and knowing that neither of their other games is likely to be this easy.