CAN and Daddiss...Again

Coupe d'Afrique Nations

That is the major theme of this week, and the following couple of week. It is the EuroCup of Africa, beaten only in popularity by the Coupe du Monde en Afrique du Sud.

The tournament consists of four groups and is being hosted in Angola. Burkina Faso is in Group B with Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo. However, Togo's bus was attacked by Angolan militants forcing Togo to resign from the tournament. So as it stands, two of the ofther three teams will qualify for the next round. Burkina tied Cote D'Ivoire 0-0 in the first match, and Cote D'Ivoire spanked Ghana 3-0 in the next match bumping Cote D'Ivoire into the next round. That means that if Burkina is to qualify it must win or tie against a Ghana team fueled by an embarrasing loss to Drogba's Ivorians. Ghana must win.

In other big matches, FIFA ranked #12 Cameron lost to the tiny nation of Gabon 0-1, Malawi spanked World Cup Bound Algeria 3-0, and many other exciting results have taken place. In short, I am typing this to let people now just how far Africa has come in the football realm. These teams are far better than we know, and I believe that the USA would struggle to qualify for the World Cup if they had to go through Africa. Also, if any of you very depressed Redskins fan want to watch some real football this winter, check out the internet and watch some African football.

So that's it for my journalistic abilities. I will now switch to what I do best, writing quick updates about life here in West Africa and news tidbits. I also wanted to thank everyone for the positive emails that I received in response to my email about the URL change to my blog. Just knowing that there are some people out there reading my rubbish gives me the motivation to continue it.

But the most important news of the day, besides of course the my football obsession, once again has to do with Guinea. Daddiss is back--and he is resting comfortably in a villa in the luxorious Ouagadougou neighborhood called Ouaga 2000 (this country is poor, but one would not know that living there with Hummers driving past you). Yes he is recovering here in Burkina Faso, why? I don't think anyone has any idea. I have seen him on the news, and I can tell you this, he is a shell of his former self. The bullet wound left a 5 inch scar in his head and Daddiss is much more subdued. It's difficult for me to imagaine that this quiet man was once the loud military leader of the country that Peace Corps was forced to evacuate from. Amazing how being shot in the head changes your life. Hopefully that will never happen to me.