Amputee football in Liberia

It was a nice Sunday in Monrovia. The second Monrovia marathon took place in the morning, and I was among the runners for the 10 Km "baby" run. The real marathon was won by a Kenyan runner. It was perhaps an announcement of things to come when on Sunday afternoon Liberia were facing Kenya in a friendly match of amputee football.
Amputee is played on teams of 7 players. And these are amazingly strong players, who play in crutches for almost an hour, managing to do things with the ball that most two-legged people cannot do. It is fantastic to see these guys whose strength is not only physical, but most of all mental and spiritual; an example of people who have come a long way with more difficulties than most of us will ever face.
These guys deserve nothing but respect.
Liberia are in fact defending African champions in amputee football, and in spite of a meager showing at the amputee football World Cup last year (won by Uzbekistan) they continue, with Ghana, to be the strongest African side. This showed in yesterday's match against Kenya, where the Liberians had great ability in moving the ball around against a defensive Kenya side. The second goal for Liberia was in fact the result of an excellent combination and a beautiful curved shot. Liberia won the friendly match 2-0, and continues to build up for next year's amputee World Cup in Mexico.
I will surely be cheering for Liberia there!

Delight for Super Zambia!

Zambia's sensational African Cup of Nations has just ended with emotional glory when they defeated the huge favourites Côte d'Ivoire in an intense final in Libreville! Like everyone in the stadium (except the Ivorians), I also got carried away by the glorious spirit, fight, and the memory of the 1994 team that died in Gabon. I really wanted to see Zambia win, and was tense throughout the nailbiting penalty shootout that took them to a seventh penalty!

Be sure to see some of these great players in the Europeans league soon!

The Ivorians went through the tournament without conceding a goal, but at the same time, three of their greatest players did not step up when it counted; Drogba missed a penalty during the match, and the misses in the shootout were by other stars, Kolo Touré and Gervinho.

The disappointment of the Ivorians must be enormous, as this represents another disappointment for a team with everpresent expectations.

It has been a truly great African Cup of nations, and Zambia's triumph makes it all the more memorable.

Glorious Zambia, and I wish I were in Lusaka now!